


If I Fall For You, Would You Fall Too?

by slashter



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Fluff, Lilo (friendship), M/M, Multi, Threesome - M/M/M, maid!louis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-23
Updated: 2013-06-06
Packaged: 2017-12-12 18:50:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 29,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/814830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slashter/pseuds/slashter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>“Fuck, Louis, most of us can’t even find one person to date, and you go and land yourself </i>two<i>!”</i><br/><i>Louis flips Niall off and closes his eyes, trying his hardest to ignore the blond’s peals of laughter. It’s true what Niall says, he can’t have them both. And this is him imagining that either of them would even want to get with him, which he knows is pretty much ridiculous considering the fact that they’re obviously seeing each other and why the hell would you pick Louis Tomlinson over Harry Styles or Zayn Malik?</i></p>
<p>[Or the one where Louis is a uni dropout who's just managed to land a new job as a housemaid, and he ends up getting to clean the shared apartment of well-known socialites Harry and Zayn]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So this fic used to be called "Just A Minute" and I started it _ages_ ago and managed to finish it pretty recently so yay!
> 
> This fic is probably gonna be beta'd later on (and I'll give credit where it's due then) but probably not britpicked so oOPS 
> 
> It's chaptered BUT ALL THE CHAPTERS ARE WRITTEN HEH so I'll just post them on a regular basis, idk, depending on how good y'all feel about the prologue and such.
> 
>   **UPDATE:** This fic is now available in [Russian](http://ficbook.net/readfic/1474245) courtesy of [wrongmirror](http://wrongmirror.tumblr.com) ! :)
> 
> Title is from Fall by Ed Sheeran~
> 
> ****Disclaimer:**  
> **  
>  I don't know anyone in 1D or anyone associated with them. This work is purely a piece of fiction.

\------------

 

Louis stares at his phone, eyes squinting at the bright screen. 

Fuck. 

He has to get up. 

He groans, rubbing his eyes for a bit, before sitting up in his bed and sighing. It’s been a while since he’s been up this early, and the fact that it’s for work is even more of an oddity.  

 

He’s definitely not one to be picky, though, especially considering where he is in his life. As a twenty-something college dropout with not a cent to his name, he was definitely in no position to pass up any job opportunity that came his way, even if it was to be--and Louis shudders a bit as he thinks about it--a _maid_. 

It’s a good thing he has such great friends who were willing to pull enough strings to help him survive. Hell, if Louis had never met Niall, he’d probably be living on the streets instead of the Irishman’s apartment. And even though he doesn’t take his living arrangements for granted, he wants nothing more than to make enough money to be able to move into his own place, or at least somewhere large enough to house two grown men without the pair having to share a bed, a bathroom, and everything else in between. 

He looks down at his phone again, where the small black numbers on the screen are notifying him that he’s spent the last half hour staring off into space. He lets out another sigh and lifts himself off of the bed with a groan.

 

Half an hour later, he’s showered, brushed, shaved, and out the door with a slightly-burnt piece of dry toast in hand. He slings his small duffel bag over his shoulder as he makes his way to the bus stop, crunching through his miserable excuse of a breakfast. As the bus pulls up, he catches his reflection in one of its windows.

He looks tired, pissed, and _old_. His hair, though combed, is still wet underneath his grey beanie, and there are large, dark bags underneath his eyes. 

He scowls. This job better be worth it.

 

 ------------

 

The first thing Louis gets once he’s been given a tour of the Minute Maids building is a key to his own locker. It’s been ages since he’s had a key to his own _anything_ , and he almost chokes up until he realizes that the woman who’s handing him his key is giving him a strange look. He clears his throat, pastes a smile onto his face, and quickly sets off for the locker room, silently berating himself for almost crying in front of a total stranger.

 

The locker room is large and moderately confusing, with row after row of identical silver boxes arranged neatly inside. It takes Louis a while to find his assigned locker, but he’s pleasantly surprised to find that he’s been given two sets of work clothes--each consisting of a monogrammed white polo shirt and creased black slacks--along with a somewhat cliché black half-apron. 

He quickly changes into his uniform as some of his other coworkers begin to file in, and Louis is relieved to see that most of them seem to be as tired as him, although he curses himself upon realizing that he forgot to grab a mug of coffee before coming to work.

“Lou! You’re here already?” A familiar voice calls, and Louis turns to see his friend Liam, smiling and already in uniform, walking up to him with a cup of coffee in each hand. He looks down expectantly at the drinks and Liam chuckles as he nods and hands one of them to Louis. 

“God bless you, Liam,” Louis says, taking a long swig from his cup and wincing as the hot liquid burns his throat on the way down.

“Whoa! Slow down there. I got yours extra hot because I didn’t know when you’d show. But this is a pleasant surprise.” Liam replies, his brows raised.

Louis sticks his tongue out at the other boy. “I know, I know,” he starts. “I’m always late for everything, but this...this is a new _job_. I’m not going to fuck this up. I won’t allow myself to. I need this too much.”

Liam smiles at that, his eyes crinkling. “Well I’m glad to see you’ve showed up with the right attitude.”

“Christ, Liam, I wouldn’t even be here without you. Thanks so much for getting me this job, I really, _really_ needed it.”

“I know, I know! Don’t worry about it! Maybe I’ll let you treat me to dinner one day.”

Louis wiggles his eyebrows, leaning back against his locker and smirking. “Why Liam...I didn’t know you swung that way.” 

Liam rolls his eyes. “ _Platonically_ ,” he adds. “Now hurry up, I want to see which sorry sap is going to end up with your disgustingly messy ass as their new _maid_.”

“Hey!” Louis calls after him, quickening his pace to catch up with the other boy. “I’m not _that_ bad.”

“Really? Because Niall called me about a week ago, asking if it would be possible to hold an intervention for being a filthy slob.”

 

Louis opens his mouth in protest, but before he can retaliate, they’ve already arrived at the assignment board. Liam runs his finger down the K-P list, stopping at his name and immediately smiling. “Yes! I got her again!”

“Who?”

“Peazer! Danielle Peazer!”

“Wait, that dancer girl you’ve been talking about? Really?”

“I mean, the assignments are usually random, but if your client really likes you, they can ask for you to be assigned to them again.” Liam turns to Louis and shrugs, smiling. “I guess I must’ve done a good job cleaning her place.”

Something twinkles in Liam’s eyes, however, and Louis has a feeling that it’s not just Liam’s cleaning skills that Danielle’s after. He keeps his mouth shut, though, and turns towards the Q-T list, searching for his name. 

“T...Tomlinson!” Louis exclaims, his eyes scanning the sheet. “Styles/Malik?” He reads out, his brow furrowing. It takes a second for his brain to kick in, and then he’s staring at Liam, mouth agape. “Wait...like _Harry_ Styles and _Zayn_ Malik? _They_ use _Minute Maids_?”

“Stop acting so surprised,” Liam says, rolling his eyes. “We have a lot of celebrity clients. These two must be new, though. I don’t think I’ve seen their names on the client before...”

“ _Fuck_ , Liam!” Louis says, practically shouting. “This is my _first_ job. And I get fucking Harry and Zayn?!”

“Like I said, the assignments are random,” Liam says, shrugging. “I don’t see what the big deal is. They’re not like super-famous or anything.”

“Uh...yeah they are! Do you not watch _any_ TV? I mean, I know you live under a rock, but really?”

Liam rolls his eyes. “They’re just two rich kids, traipsing around, doing nothing that contributes to society. Why should I care about them?”

“Um...because they’re _hot_?!”

“My, my, how shallow we’ve become, my dear Louis.”

“Shit. Shit, shit, shit. How am I going to pull this off?” Louis says, pacing back and forth, running his hands through his hair nervously. “If I see either of them, I know I’m going to faint. Or pee my pants. Or both.”

Liam reaches out and steadies Louis, placing his hands on the smaller boy’s shoulders. “Lou. You’ll be fine. Just do your job. Plus, chances are, they won’t even be at home.”

“...you think so?”

Liam snorts. “Please, Louis. It’s barely 8 am on a Monday morning. Do you think either of these boys will wake up before 2 pm?”

Louis smiles, relaxing a bit. “I know I wouldn’t.”

“Exactly,” Liam replies, smiling back and slinging an arm over Louis’ shoulders. “Now grab your stuff and let’s go, you’re in my carpool!”

 

Louis gathers his supplies and finds Liam waiting in the Minute Maids car. He gets in, a hopeful smile on his face. Hopefully he won’t make a complete ass of himself today.

 

Hopefully.

 

\------------


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay uh I couldn't wait to post this and I don't think the prologue covered enough of the plot so here lol

\------------

 

Louis stands outside the apartment, fingers clenching tight around the key that’d been given to him. He has _the key to Harry and Zayn’s apartment_. He lets out a shaky breath. Okay. He is going to do this. He is going to be cool. 

He unlocks the front door and pokes his head in. The air inside is cool but musty, with a lingering smell that brings back memories of late Friday night college parties.

“...Hello?” Louis calls out, somewhat quietly, waiting for a response. After a couple minutes, though, no one replies, and so he takes a deep breath and walks into the apartment, silently closing the door behind him. 

He had been given an enormous black plastic box on wheels that he’d had to pull out of the car when he’d reached, and it was only now that he realizes that it’s probably full of cleaning supplies. 

That makes sense. 

 

He takes a look around the apartment. The blinds in the front room are closed, giving the place a very dim, almost sad, tinge, so the first thing Louis does is open them, bathing the room in the bright morning light. It livens up the atmosphere almost immediately, and Louis is relieved to see that this room probably won’t need much more than a good dusting and vacuuming.

He makes his way to the kitchen and sighs when he sees the sink overflowing with dirty dishes and crinkles his nose disapprovingly at the trash can, which seems to be leaking some sort of strange brown liquid.

Louis wants to start his job as soon as possible, mostly so that he can finish it as soon as possible and get the hell out of this place before the tenants--Harry _fucking_ Styles and Zayn _goddamn_ Malik--realize he’s here, but it soon hits him that they’ll definitely hear the vacuum cleaner, so he hesitantly makes his way to the bedrooms.

He stands in front of the first door, praying that nobody’s inside. His wish is granted when he opens the door to find a completely empty room. He’s a bit taken aback, since he knows that this is just a two-bedroom apartment with two residents, and he’s about to ask the obvious question to himself when the realization hits him, and he quietly opens the door to the next bedroom.

As he suspected, it’s not only _much_ larger than the first bedroom, but much more used, as can be seen by the piles of clothes strewn about the room and the bundle of messy sheets that grace the bed. 

That’s the other thing--there’s only one bed. It’s huge, of course, but only one bed with two guys usually means one thing. And Louis knows he shouldn’t be one to jump to conclusions, especially since he himself shares a bed with another man, but Niall is straight and Louis is not, and he knows for a fact that Harry and Zayn aren’t either.

Oh, but this makes so much _sense_!

No wonder the boys are always single and are only seen having one-night stands with random girls at seedy clubs.

It’s strange, but this new piece of information calms Louis down a bit, and he feels as if he knows the boys a bit more, although that’s pretty much completely untrue. He closes their bedroom door and decides to get the biggest hurdle out of the way, grabbing his box of supplies and stomping determinedly towards the disaster of a kitchen.

 

\------------

 

Though the mess originally seemed huge, it doesn’t take Louis long to get into some sort of weird cleaning rhythm, and before he knows it, he’s done with the kitchen, which looks absolutely sparkling, if he does say so himself, and moves on to the rest of the apartment.

 

Once he finds the vacuum cleaner, stuffed in the back of the coat closet underneath what Louis suspects used to belong to a living animal, his work progresses quickly, and it’s not long before he’s finished with every room in the apartment but the master bedroom. 

He walks inside and sighs. He knows he’s not supposed to take anything, and he’s been tipped off by Liam to not make any assumptions or attachments to anything either, since he never knows if he’ll get assigned the same apartment. Regardless, Louis does find it a bit sad that there’s basically no evidence of the entire place being, y’know, _lived_ in. There’s no photos of family, no small trinkets lying around, no sentimental stuffed animals, no pet, nothing. And it makes Louis feel a little bit sorry for Harry and Zayn, because even though he lives in a fucking shoebox of an apartment, at least he has photos of his sisters everywhere and even a 3-foot-tall stuffed teddy bear he won for Niall at a fair once crammed into the corner of their bedroom.

The bedroom, Louis notes, as he begins gathering clothes and clearing up the carpet, could be a hotel room. There’s some pieces of jewelry lying around--a watch, some necklaces, a couple pairs of earrings--but apart from the clothes, that’s about it. There’s really nothing around that personalizes the place.

His phone buzzes right then, and it snaps Louis back to reality. He pulls it out to see a text from Liam.

 

_We’re off by 1. I’ll pick you up for lunch then. Make sure you’ve cleaned everything you can!! x_

 

Louis checks the time. It’s already 12:15, and he hasn’t even looked at the master bathroom yet. Shit.

Okay. No more time for sympathy.

 

Louis races through the rest of the job, vacuuming the room, changing the bedsheets, and running the dirty clothes through the wash. He finds that the bathroom isn’t too dirty at all, and sighs gratefully, still cleaning as much as he can. 

Once he’s done, he steps back and takes a look at the finished product, and it’s not too bad. He checks the time again. 12:50 pm. Perfect.

He’s about to head out the door when he sees something small and black peeking out from under the bed. Fuck, how did he miss that?

He gets down on his hands and knees, lifting up the bed covers so that he can peek under the bed. 

 

_Shit._

 

He’d been completely wrong about the pair that lived here--they definitely had their personal possessions in the apartment. Stuffed under the bed are more sex toys than Louis has seen in his entire life. It’s dark, but he can count at least five different vibrators. He sees a couple pairs of handcuffs and even a fucking _whip_.Louis can feel his face getting hot as he realizes that what he’s looking at is probably a bit _too_ personal for a stranger’s eyes. There’re more boxes of things that he’s not even going to think about looking into, and he slowly crawls backwards from under the bed, face still flushed.

 

He has enough time to close his eyes and let out a shaky breath when he hears a somewhat familiar voice to his right.

“Uh...who the fuck are you?”

He turns his head so fast that he can practically feel a crick form, but that’s something he’s definitely going to have to worry about later, because standing in front of him at this very moment are the last two people on earth that Louis wants to run into.

 

\------------

 

Zayn has a terrible hangover, so it takes him a while to realize why his apartment seems so different when he walks in. It definitely smells cleaner, but the blinds are also wide open, which they never are, and every reflective surface in the place is shining. He stops walking, his eyes squinting at how fucking bright everything is, and feels Harry bump into him, the younger boy probably unaware of the fact that Zayn is standing still. 

“Oof,” Harry lets out, but continues to fall into Zayn, wrapping his arms around the older boy’s waist. He presses a kiss into Zayn’s neck. “What’s up, babe?” 

Zayn presses back into Harry almost automatically, but continues to look around the place with a confused expression on his face. “Does this place look different to you?” he asks.

Harry looks up from where he’s been nibbling Zayn’s neck to give the place a once-over. “Uh...kinda? I guess everything just looks a lot...shinier?”

Zayn shrugs, placing his arms over Harry’s. “Must just be the light. Although I swear I closed the blinds before we left last night…” 

Both boys freeze up when they hear a rustle to their left.

“Shit,” Zayn says, suddenly alert. “Did someone break in?”

Harry lets go of Zayn’s waist and grabs the first hard object within his reach, which just so happens to be the ridiculously large black umbrella they keep propped up by the door. Zayn eyes the item incredulously, but allows Harry to walk forward, watching the brown-haired boy raise the umbrella in a somewhat threatening manner, and chuckles quietly. Harry doesn’t seem to hear him, though, and as soon as he reaches the open door of their bedroom, he stops. 

It’s now Zayn’s turn to walk into Harry, but he does it a lot less gracefully, rubbing his nose as he glares at the boy, stepping next to him to see what made him stop moving.

 

_Oh._

 

Now, Zayn’s walked in on a lot of different things, which isn’t too surprising, especially considering the kind of life he leads. More than often, these things have been of the sexual variety, and in those cases, he usually finds himself shrugging and joining in. 

But he’s never walked in to a situation quite like this, and especially not on a Monday morning in his own apartment. Because right there, with the top half of his body under Zayn’s bed, is a man with the most spectacular ass Zayn’s ever seen. It’s pushed out, straining against the tight black pants the man is wearing, and Zayn barely manages to tear his eyes away from the sight to look at Harry, who, not surprisingly, is just as enamored with the view as he is. 

He looks back at the man--or his ass, to be honest--and leans in to Harry. “Should we call the police?” he whispers.

Harry doesn’t look away from the sight in front of him as he shakes his head. “Let’s, uh, let’s wait a little bit longer,” he whispers back. “See who this guy really is.”

Zayn nods, and stands alert as the man under the bed begins crawling backwards. Once the covers have brushed off him, Zayn inhales sharply because the guy’s _fit_. He can sense that Harry’s thinking the same thing, and he’s not surprised. The man’s fairly tan and has what looks like extremely soft, light brown hair. He’s closing his eyes and Zayn can see the muscles in his arm flex a bit. He and Harry both watch the man for a couple more seconds before Zayn speaks up.

“Uh,” he starts. “Who the fuck are you?”

 

The man whips his head around so fast that Zayn winces, knowing the guy’s probably hurt himself, but immediately bites his lips as he sees the man’s face for the first time. It’s all angular and stubbled and strangely feminine and the only other thing Zayn needs to see are those blue eyes for him to whisper a soft “ _holy shit_ ” under his breath, and Harry lets out a small grunt in agreement.

The guy looks back and forth at Zayn and Harry, as if he can’t decide where to look, and then lets out what Zayn can only describe as a small squeak of fear.

The sound is so unexpected that Zayn and Harry burst out laughing at the same time as they watch the man in front of them scramble onto his feet. He blushes, obviously embarrassed, and waits for the boys to quiet down before responding to Zayn’s question.

“I...uh, I’m Louis,” he starts, his voice high and melodic and perfect, and Zayn reaches out to grip Harry’s arm. “I’m your maid. Well, for today at least. Who knows what’ll happen next week?”

Zayn can’t say anything, too many thoughts buzzing around in his head right now, and watches the man--wait, he said Louis, right?--continue to ramble.

“Uh...yeah, I mean, I...I thought I was done cleaning your room and then I saw something sticking out from under your bed so I looked under it, and...uh…” Louis says, his face now an even deeper shade of pink than before, and Zayn has to glance over at his bed before he realizes what Louis is talking about.

Harry speaks first, though. “Right. About that, mate, could you, uh, keep it under wraps? We’d like as little of that to leak out to the press as possible.”

Louis nods ferociously. “Oh, yes, of course! We have a strict client privacy policy. My lips are sealed.”

Zayn is about to make one of his classic remarks about how he’d like Louis’ lips sealed over a specific something of his own when he notices that Louis is practically shaking and he holds his comment back, afraid of what it might do to the guy. 

He clears his throat. “I thought housemaids were women.” He says, trying to break the weird tension that had popped up in the room.

“Oh.” Louis says, but Zayn can see his shoulders relax. “Well, yes, usually, but Minute Maids has quite a few male maids on their staff.”

Zayn turns to Harry. “Did _you_ call for a maid?”

“Uh, yeah, last week.” Harry says, looking over to Zayn for the first time since they’d entered the room. “The kitchen was a pigsty. I didn’t know they were going to clean the entire place, though…”

Louis freezes up. “Oh, god. Did...did you say specifically to not clean anything but the kitchen? Crap, I’m so sorry, I’m so, so, sorry. See, it’s my first day, and I was freaking out because I got _your_ apartment, _your_ bloody apartment, and I’m a huge fan of you both and I didn’t really read the special instructions part of the assignment and I just got this job and I really need it and if my supervisor finds out that I fucked anything up then I’m going to get fired and please, I can’t, I just really need this jo--”

Harry’s in front of Louis now, hand over the other boy’s mouth. Louis is past pink, he’s a deep, deep red, and Zayn can’t help but let out a little chuckle.

“Don’t worry,” Harry says, smiling at Louis. “I’m glad you cleaned the place, it needed a good scrub. Thanks.”

Louis nods multiple times, not stopping until Harry moves his hand to Louis’ jaw. “Breathe,” he says, and Louis seems frozen to the spot, but still lets out a long, shaky breath.

Zayn hears a phone buzz, and from Louis’ reaction, it’s his, and probably important. Louis starts hastily wrapping up the vacuum cleaner and puts all his supplies back in the impossibly huge box he has in the corner of the room. He wheels it past Harry as he walks up to the door, now right in front of Zayn.

“Um. My ride’s here, I...I’m supposed to leave.” He says quietly, unable to look Zayn in the eye.

It takes Zayn a moment to realize that he’s actually in Louis’ way, but then he quickly steps aside and watches Louis practically sprint towards the front door.

Right before he opens the door, however, Louis stops and turns back in their direction, brow furrowed. “Shit,” he mutters quietly, but it’s loud enough for Zayn to hear and he smiles at Louis, who exhales and begins talking extremely fast, his words monotonous, and it seems as if he’s reciting something he memorized a couple hours ago.

“Thank you for choosing Minute Maids, quality service for a great rate. We try our hardest to do our job in the best way we can. I hope I performed my duties today in a satisfactory manner. My name is Louis Tomlinson. Please feel free to voice any comments, questions, or concerns at our website, www.MinuteMaids.com. Don’t hesitate to call whenever you need our services, we’ll be over in just a minute!” he says in just one breath, and Zayn’s impressed, cheekily waving goodbye to a flustered Louis as he pulls open the door and runs into the hallway.

 

“Well,” Zayn says, turning around to face Harry. “That was interesting.”

“ _Fuck_ ,” Harry replies, running a hand through his curls. “Did you see his ass?”

Zayn snorts. “Was it possible to see anything else?”

“I know, right? How are those pants workplace appropriate?”

“I have no idea, but if it’s possible to get him to clean our place next week, _do it._ ”

Harry nods in agreement. “Will do.” He flops back onto their bed, now freshly made, and sighs. “The place looks really nice.”

Zayn smiles, walking towards the bed and straddling Harry, leaning down to kiss him. “ _You_ look really nice,” he mumbles, his lips brushing Harry’s.

Harry moans pleasantly and runs his hands up Zayn’s back, deepening the kiss. It’s not long till both of them are shirtless, and Zayn presses himself down onto Harry. The feeling of Harry’s hot skin against his own is amazing, and Zayn slowly starts to grind himself against Harry, letting out short, hot breaths against the younger boy’s extremely sensitive neck.

Harry places two strong hands against Zayn’s hips and stops him, though, and Zayn pulls back to look down at Harry, frowning. “What’s up?”

“I’m _disgusting_ , babe. You don’t even want to know what I was soaked with last night. Can we please just take a shower?”

Zayn sighs but pushes himself off the bed, pulling Harry up as well, and strips off his clothes as he walks to the bathroom. He knows Harry’s doing the same, and once Zayn is standing under the warm spray of water, he feels Harry press up against his back and smiles.

“Hi,” Harry says, his voice low and gravelly, and Zayn pushes back against him. “You gonna continue what we were doing a minute ago or…?”

Zayn turns around, smacking Harry’s shoulder. “You’re an ass.” He says, but presses Harry against the shower wall, sliding his leg in between the other boy’s, and begins to slowly grind against his thigh. 

Harry lets it happen this time, and leans his head back, the hot water running down his body. Zayn nips at Harry’s neck and then kisses him deeply, closing his eyes and immersing himself in all the sensations around him.

Everything’s fine until Zayn sees a flash of blue and immediately pulls back, freezing up.

Harry looks at hm, confused. “You okay?”

Zayn clears his throat. “Yeah, uh, sorry. Sorry.” He says, leaning back in.

Harry catches his lips in another kiss, and Zayn melts into it again, but it’s not long until he sees a pair of bright blue eyes in his head, and his brow furrows. But before he can pull back again, Harry flips them over and Zayn’s pressed against the wall. Harry reaches down and grabs both their lengths in his hand, his enormous hand, and starts jerking them both off. Zayn lets out a deep moan, reaching up and tangling his fingers in Harry’s curls.

Zayn can feel Harry all around him, moaning into his mouth, pressing into his chest, Harry’s other hand wrapping around his neck and pressing into his collarbone, but all he can think about is tan skin, feathery caramel hair, and those blue, blue eyes. Those thin pink lips, bitten, bruised, wrapping themselves around his cock, taking him in, sucking him dry. That glorious _ass_ , pushing back onto Zayn. And that’s what he comes to, to Louis, and the only thing that snaps him back to reality is Harry coming as well, his groans echoing off the shower walls. Zayn immediately feels the guilt sweep over him as he watches Harry look at him with starry eyes because he knows that he loves Harry and that he should come to Harry but that’s not what just happened.

 

Later on that night, as Zayn lays in bed and feels Harry wrap his arm around his waist, he sighs, closes his eyes, and dreams of Louis.

 

\------------

 


	3. Chapter 2

\------------

 

“ _Sex toys_?” Liam says, his eyebrows rising so high up off his head that they practically disappear into his hair.

“Yes,” Louis groans, his lunch forgotten. “Lots and _lots_ of sex toys.” He lifts his head up to look at Liam. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to go back there again.”

Liam gives Louis a sympathetic look. “Unfortunately, I don’t think that’s your choice to make.” He says, taking a sip of his drink. 

“I just want to forget about this. _All_ of this.”

“Well that’s good to hear. You can do that tonight.”

“What? What’s going on tonight?”

“We’ve got the evening cleanup at Cowell Industries.” 

“I thought we only did houses?”

“Sometimes they book companies for us because it gets us good publicity or whatever. Anyways, your name’s on the list, so be ready. I’ll pick you up at seven.” 

Louis groans again, dropping his head onto the table with a loud _thud_ , earning him a couple concerned glances from the people who were sitting around him.

“Calm down,” Liam says, rolling his eyes. “Stop overreacting. You have a break. Go home, sleep this off. And be ready at seven.”

“Do I _have_ to?” Louis says, his voice muffled by the table.

“Yes.” Liam says, sighing. “I thought you said you’d do anything for this job.”

At that, Louis perks up, a determined expression on his face. “You’re right. I will.”

“Okay...good for you.”

“I’ll be the _best damn maid_ anyone has _ever_ seen!”

“...right.”

“I’ll be _so_ good that--”

“Louis. I’m leaving. Just remember to be--”

“Ready at seven. Got it.” Louis says, finishing Liam’s sentence with a smile.

 

\------------

 

Harry's not stupid. 

Although several tabloids would beg to disagree, especially since Harry's supposed IQ test results had been released, he really isn’t a dunce. Okay, so maybe he lacks some skills at maths or science, but the one thing he knows the most about is people. 

He'a an expert at reading people. He can tell a person's emotions just by observing them for a couple seconds, and all it takes is one conversation with someone for him to be able to categorize them and define their personalities. 

So it's no surprise that the instant the one person he's closest to, Zayn, starts subtly changing his body language, Harry knows something's up. 

So he confronts him Friday morning during breakfast. 

 

"Zayn." Harry says, watching the other boy's face. Zayn's eyes are looking past Harry, and it's obvious he's in deep thought. 

"Hmm?" Zayn replies, blinking a couple times and clearing his throat. "Yeah, sorry, you say something?"

"What's going on?" Harry asks slowly, gauging Zayn's reaction. He sees the boy tense up for just a second, then watches as his eyes flicker down to his restless hands. He's nervous. Or guilty. But about what? Harry and Zayn have always been open with each other. They know everything about each other, right down to their most embarrassing secrets, the ones that gossip magazines would pay tens of thousands of dollars to get their hands on. 

"Nothing, man," Zayn says, letting out a shaky breath and looking back up at Harry, a fake smile on his face. "I'm--I'm good."

Harry snorts. "No. What you are is full of shit."

"What?"

“Zayn. I’ve known you for practically all my life. We live together. Eat together. _Sleep_ together. I know everything there is to know about you." Harry says, clasping his hands together on the table. "So what are you hiding from me?"

Zayn stares at Harry for a while, different emotions flashing quickly across his face--Harry catches shock, relief, guilt, and fear before Zayn speaks again. 

"I...you know I love you, right?" He says quietly. 

"...yes?" Harry replies, brow furrowed. Is that what this was about? The two had confessed their feelings for each other _ages_ ago. 

"Well, what if I told you that--hypothetically--I...might also be developing feelings for someone else?" 

Harry stops moving, his head buzzing with questions. What? Wait, _what_? 

Out of all the things he wants to ask, though, the only thing that manages to slip out of his mouth is a small "Who?"

Zayn glances up at Harry's face and then back down at the table, mumbling something. 

"Uh, who?" Harry says, leaning in. 

Zayn sighs. "I said...Louis."

Harry pauses, confused. _Louis_? Who is that? The name sounds vaguely familiar, but he isn’t sure who Zayn was talking about. Is it one of those blokes they'd run into at some party recently? 

Harry gets up and walks to the kitchen, still trying to to figure out who this guy is, when he puts his mug in the sink and wonders subconsciously why the whole place looks so empty, so...clean.

And then it hits him. 

_Louis_. "The maid." He whispers, but loud enough for Zayn to hear and sit up straight.

Harry doesn't miss Zayn's reaction.

 

The maid. The one with the ass. And the hair, and the skin, and those eyes. And instantly he understands Zayn's infatuation with the guy. The duo have always had a similar taste in men. Hell, Harry would be lying if he says that he doesn't find the maid attractive himself. But it's only been a few days since they met the guy, and Harry's never seen Zayn fall so fast for anyone--not even himself. 

So even though he can feel a bit of jealousy bubbling up inside his stomach, he sits back down at the table and locks his eyes with Zayn's. 

"So," he starts. "Describe these... _feelings_."

 

\------------

 

By the next Monday, Louis is up before his alarm, and so he just spends some time staring at his ceiling. Work is good. Liam and Niall are good. The money is good. Everything’s just...good. 

Except he knows what day it is today and he knows whose house he could get assigned  to today and that’s enough to make him want to curl up into a little ball and scream. 

 

By the time he gets to work, he can’t stop moving, and spends all his spare time cracking his knuckles or drumming his fingers on his locker. He can’t stop tapping his feet and Liam can sense that he’s nervous, but he doesn’t need to ask why.

“You ready?” he says, eyeing Louis.

Louis sighs. “It’s now or never, I guess.”

The pair walk up to the assignment board, Liam smiling as he sees he’s been assigned to Danielle again.

“You must be a hell of a good lay.” Louis says, smirking when Liam shoots him an angry glare, his cheeks heating up.

Louis doesn’t want to look at his assignment. He knows that he did a good job cleaning the apartment, but he figures that completely humiliating himself kind of undid all of his hard work and he secretly hopes that he disgusted Harry and Zayn beyond repair. Riding on this hope, he takes a deep breath and finds his name, eyes finding his assignment.

 

_Styles/Malik_

 

Louis screams.

 

\------------

 

He’s back where was exactly a week ago, standing in front of that same fucking apartment, ready to throw himself off a cliff. He’s hoping and praying that they haven’t made that much of a mess and that all he’ll have to do is hop in, clean a bit, and hop out, avoiding the pair entirely. 

He lets himself in, not even bothering to check if anyone’s home this time. No doubt Harry and Zayn are off in some stranger’s house, still knocked out from the crazy party they were at last night--Louis knows what they’ve been up to, he saw the pictures on Twitter. He figures that as long as he’s by himself, he may as well just listen to his iPod, but sighs when he discovers that it’s almost out of battery.

He plugs it into the massive speakers in the apartment anyways, figuring that the boys will never be able to tell he’d used their sound system, and what they didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them.

He’s not even surprised when “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” starts blasting through the speakers, and instead of changing the song, he shrugs and goes along with it, singing along as he starts picking up trash and setting the rooms in order.

 

\------------

 

Zayn wakes up before Harry and just stares at the ceiling of their bedroom. He still can’t believe how Harry had reacted to the news.

 

The boys were in no way sexually inexperienced, each having been involved in his fair share of what Harry cheekily referred to as “threesomes, foursomes, and moresomes,” some even with both boys involved, but had pretty much abandoned that ship when they’d officially gotten together, deciding that a monogamous relationship was probably the best way to go.

But when he’d spilled his growing feelings for Louis to the boy, including, embarrassingly enough, the thoughts of him during sex, Harry had just laughed.

“Seriously?” he’d responded. “That’s it? Fuck, I thought I was going to lose you or something.”

Zayn had shook his head violently at that. He could never lose Harry, _never._ Harry was his rock, the one solidly defined thing in his life, and he’d never be able to let him go. But there was just something about Louis that felt irresistible, and when he’d voiced those thoughts to Harry, all the curly-haired boy did was smirk.

“I get what you’re saying.” He’d said, and Zayn had seen Harry’s eyes grow brighter at that statement. “He really is beautiful, isn’t he?” 

All Zayn had been able to do was nod at that statement, a bit confused and excited at what Harry was planning.

“Fuck it.” Harry had said, rising up and slamming his hands down on the table. “Let’s invite him in.”

Zayn’s jaw had dropped and he was full-on gaping at Harry, who was displaying one of the most smug looks Zayn had ever seen in his entire life. “W-What?” He’d managed to stutter out.

Harry had shrugged. “You like him. I like him. He _obviously_ likes us. And...as long as it makes you happy, I can understand. Besides,” Harry had continued, pulling Zayn up to his feet and wrapping his arms around the other boy’s waist, “it’s not like we haven’t done this before.”

Zayn didn’t really remember much after that, and it could have been due to the fact that they’d ended up with their tongues down each other’s throats.

 

“Mmph,” Harry says, and it’s enough to tear Zayn’s eyes from the ceiling and onto the mass of brown curls by his shoulder. 

“Morning, sunshine.” Zayn says, running his fingers through Harry’s soft hair, causing the other boy to hum pleasantly.

“What _time_ is it?”

“A little past 8.”

“...morning or night?”

“Morning, you dolt.”

“Fuck.” Harry adjusts himself, moving so that his head’s resting on Zayn’s shoulder. “Why are we up again?”

“Good question.” Zayn says, tilting Harry’s face up towards his. “Maybe it’s because I want to do this.” He finishes, pressing a slow kiss to Harry’s lips. He can feel the other boy smile and feels his own stomach flutter, and _god_ , is he getting butterflies? Really?

Harry leans into the kiss, and just as Zayn’s about to slip his tongue into Harry’s mouth, a loud sound explodes from their living room and both boys jump, knocking their heads together.

Zayn rubs his temple as the other boy lets out a string of expletives, looking up as Harry suddenly stops speaking. “What?” He says, curious.

“Is this...is this Girls Just Wanna Have Fun?” Harry says, tilting his head.

Both boys are quiet for a moment as they let the familiar tune play, and Zayn is the first one to crack. Soon the two are practically crying, rolling around on their bed. 

“Oh my _god_.” Harry says, wiping his eyes. “It’s him, isn’t it?”

Zayn smiles, biting his lip happily. It’s _him_.He’s _here_. Jesus, what was it about Louis that made him so giddy?

“Well, if we had any questions about his sexuality…” Harry says, turning to face Zayn, eyebrows raised.

Zayn smacks Harry upside the head, but laughs nonetheless. “Does he know we’re here?” He says out loud, mostly to himself, but Harry shrugs in response.

“We were “at a party” last night, remember?” Harry says, using air quotes. “He probably--no, he definitely--follows us on Twitter and saw those pictures. I don’t think he knows we’re home.”

“Fuck. What do we do?”

“I mean, we can’t hide in here. He’s got to come and clean this room at _some_ point.”  
“I…I just don’t want to freak him out.”

“Been there, done that. Just last week, actually.” Harry says, smirking. “Honestly, in my opinion, it needs to become more of a regular thing.”

And before Zayn can say another word, Harry jumps off the bed, opens their bedroom door, and strolls into their living room, stark naked.

 

\------------

 

Louis isn’t sure what prompts him to turn around. Maybe it’s the change of music, Michael Bublé’s voice crooning out from the speakers, or maybe it’s the chill that travels slowly down his spine, the one he feels when he realizes he’s not the only one in a room.

What he is sure of, though, is that Harry Styles is walking down the hall from his bedroom towards him, in all his sleepy, tousled, lanky, porcelain, tattooed, naked-- _fuck_ , is he actually _naked_?!--glory, and Louis is just staring, open-mouthed. 

 

Before he can tear his eyes away from the sight in front of him, though, Harry catches him in the act and smiles. “Hey.” He says, his voice still sleepy and low, and Louis can die happy right now.

He clears his throat, though, and offers a weak smile. “Hello, uh, Ha--uh, Mr. Styles. Good morning.” He turns around and continues wiping down the dining table, trying to calm himself and failing terribly. He doesn’t miss Harry raising his eyebrows and chuckling at the moniker, though.

“The place looks nice.” Harry continues, walking into the kitchen, and it’s almost as if he wants to have a conversation, which Louis knows can’t be true, because he’s the _maid_ and what does his opinion matter?

He responds, though, since he doesn’t want to seem rude. “Oh, uh, thanks.”

“You did a great job with the kitchen. We actually used it this week. Haven’t been able to do that in a while.” Harry says, and flashes Louis a dazzling smile, and for a second the older boy forgets about where he is and who he’s looking at and the fact that said person is completely and totally nude. It doesn’t last long, though, and another voice chimes in from the distance.

“Christ, Styles, you’re going to get us sued.”

 

Louis turns around and sees Zayn, who at least bothered to put on a shirt and sweatpants, walking briskly from the bedroom. Zayn stops awkwardly in front of Louis and hesitates for a moment before smiling. “Morning.” 

Louis returns the smile, screaming internally because oh my god, was that just a trick of the light or did Zayn actually seem a bit _nervous_ around him?

“Sorry about the delinquent.” Zayn continues, gesturing towards Harry, who raises a middle finger in Zayn’s direction.

“No, no, it’s...uh, it’s fine.” Louis says, stammering. “I guess the whole “Harry Styles likes to be nude all the time” rumor is actually true, huh?”

Harry smiles at that, winking at Louis, who can feel his face turning pink.

 

Zayn shakes his head at the curly-haired boy, walking up to the boy and smacking his shoulder. Harry yelps and turns around, pouting, and all Louis wants to do is take a picture of the boy’s lips. Zayn turns to Louis and is about to say something back when Harry grabs him by the shoulders and pushes him into the fridge, crushing his lips onto Zayn’s.

 

And Louis just stares, because it’s probably the hottest fucking thing he’s ever seen.

 

Harry’s lips are magic, moving slowly but surely, and Zayn’s practically melting into him, his hands snaking up into Harry’s hair. Harry’s hands press into Zayn’s hips and Louis hears Zayn moan, the boy’s long, dark eyelashes fluttering in response to Harry’s touch.

 

_Shit_ , this is _private_. 

 

Louis turns and quickly walks away from the distracted couple, cursing underneath his breath as he looks around. He’s done with everything but the master bedroom, of _course_ , but he doesn’t want to enter without either Harry or Zayn’s permission, and he’d ask them, but they’re a bit preoccupied at the moment, and Louis wants to die right then and there.

His ears perk up as he catches a bit of conversation from the kitchen, though.  
“What are you doing?”

“You enjoyed it.”  
“Fuck, Harry, he ran off!”

“Shh, I think he’s just in the living room, calm down.”  
“I swear to god, Styles, if you just ruined everything, I’m gonna--”

And then the conversation is abruptly cut off with what Louis can only assume to be another kiss between the two, and Zayn stumbles out from the kitchen soon after, throwing dirty glances at Harry, who’s striding cockily behind him.

“I, um,” Louis begins, trying to look anywhere but Harry’s crotch. He finds Zayn and decides to focus in on the concerned look on the boy’s face. 

He swears that Zayn must have the most perfect face in all existence, though, because even though his eyebrows are smushed together in worry and his lips are in an almost-frown, Louis is sure he hasn’t seen a more beautiful sight in ages.

“...you?” Zayn asks.

“Oh! Um, yeah, I was wondering if I could clean the master bedroom now, if that’s okay with both of you. I’m, uh, done with everything else.”

“Yeah, of course! Uh, just let this ass get some clothes first,” he says, motioning towards Harry, who rolls his eyes at Zayn and winks at Louis again, walking towards the bedroom.

 

Louis turns back to Zayn, who now has a more sympathetic look upon his features.

“Look, I’m sorry about Harry, he can be a bit...forward.” He says.

“No, no, it’s, uh, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it. It is _his_ apartment, he’s allowed to wear anything he wants,” Louis says. “Or, y’know, nothing at all.”

Zayn laughs at that, and it’s so melodic and beautiful that Louis can’t help but smile back.

“Thanks for understanding. I was afraid you’d, like, refuse to come back, especially after last week.”

Louis decides not to let Zayn know about his little freakout just a few hours ago and shrugs. “You requested me, so here I am.”

“Yeah,” Zayn says, and he’s looking at Louis, but it’s as if his mind is somewhere else. “Here you are. Thanks.”

“No sweat.”

A silence follows Louis’ statement, but Louis feels anything but uncomfortable as he stands there, just watching Zayn. And he doesn’t want to acknowledge it, because the chances of it being true are just a million to one, but he’s sure that Zayn is doing the same to Louis.

 

The calm is broken, though, as Harry walks into the room, now at least somewhat clothed. “Why is it so quiet in here?” He says, walking up to where Louis’ iPod is attached. “Ah, your iPod’s dead, mate. Bummer.” 

Harry unplugs the device and tosses it to Louis, who catches it and tucks it into his pocket in one swift move. Harry raises his eyebrows, impressed, and Louis can’t help but flash a smug smile at the other boy.

“Okay, chop-chop!” Harry cries, getting behind Louis and actually pushing him towards the master bedroom. “Get to cleaning! The clock’s ticking! Stop flirting! Is this what we’re paying you for?”

Louis can hear Zayn’s cries of protest and can feel a blush make its way up to his cheeks, but barely pays attention to any of that because Harry Styles is actually _touching_ him, his large hands pressed firmly into Louis’ shoulders.

“Have fun,” Harry says, smiling cheekily as they get to the bedroom. “Oh, and uh, try to avoid looking under the bed this time, babe.”

 

\------------


	4. Chapter 3

\------------

“Pick one.”

“What?!”

“Pick one!”

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. I can’t do that!”

 

Louis flops back onto the carpet, pouting, while Niall rolls his eyes and Liam just chuckles at them both. Niall crawls over to Louis so that he’s right above him. “You can’t have them _both_ , y’know.” He says.

“Why not?” Louis says, whining. “They could just switch off. I’d have Zayn one day, then Harry the next. It’d be perfect.”

“Are _they_ up for that?” Liam chimes in, smirking.

“I am 90% sure _both_ of them were flirting with me on Monday, so yes.”

“Wait, what? This is new information! Spill!” Niall says, pulling Louis back up to a seating position by his arms.

Louis sighs. “Well, first of all, Harry was fucking _naked_ , bless his soul. And he winked at me at least three times. And then Zayn came in and he was all nervous around me? And then him and Harry _kissed_ in front of me, which was by far the hottest fucking thing I’ve ever seen, and then Zayn and I talked, and then we just, like, looked into each other’s eyes…?” He finishes, glancing over to see Niall struggling to hold back laughter. “Oh, fuck off.” He says, flopping back onto the floor, as Niall cracks up.

“Fuck, Louis, most of us can’t even find one person to date, and you go and land yourself _two_!” 

Louis flips Niall off and closes his eyes, trying his hardest to ignore the blond’s peals of laughter. It’s true what Niall says, he can’t have them both. And this is him imagining that either of them would even want to get with him, which he knows is pretty much ridiculous considering the fact that they’re obviously seeing each other and why the hell would you pick Louis Tomlinson over Harry Styles or Zayn Malik?

“Aww, don’t worry, babe.” Niall coos, tucking himself into Louis’ side. “You can get with me and Liam. Not the same thing, obviously, but it’s better than nothing.”

“ _What_?!” Liam cries.

Louis and Niall both lift their heads up to see the shocked expression on Liam’s face and fall back on each other, laughing till their sides hurt.

 

\------------

 

It’s 3pm on a Friday afternoon, which means that Louis should be sound asleep. Unfortunately, his phone doesn’t seem to have the same idea, and starts ringing right as Louis is about to drift off into a deep sleep.

Cursing, Louis checks the caller ID, only to see that the number is private. He answers the call.

“Sorry, not interested. Remove me from your list or whatever. Thanks.”

“Well that’s a shame,” a familiar voice says, and Louis jumps up, tangling himself in his sheets. “We don’t have anyone else to call.”

“Wait, is this--wait, how did you get my number?”

“You’re such a twat, Harry. Jesus. Um--hello, Louis, can you hear me?”

“Mr. Malik?”

“Honestly, you’re still going with that? Please, call me Zayn, I think we’re there.”

“Um, unlike Zayn over here, you can still call me Mr. Styles.” Harry interjects. “It’s kinda hot.”

“Uh…”

“You’re the worst.” Louis hears Zayn cry, followed by a lot of rustling and the sound of a slap, after which Zayn speaks again. “Louis? Still there?”

“Yeah, um, Zayn. What’s going on?”

“No, yeah, see I got your number from Minute Maids, because it turns out that the twat and I need your help--fuck, Harry, get off me!”

“I’m not a twat!”

Louis chuckles, and he can clearly imagine the scene that’s unfolding over at their apartment at this very moment. “What do you need my help for?”

“We’re having a P-A-R-T-Y!” Harry cries out, and Louis can’t help but smile at how giddy the boy sounds.

“Well, I’m not too much of a party guy,” Louis lies, still smiling, “but I can stop by and check it out, I guess.”

There’s an awkward silence for a few seconds, after which Louis hears Zayn let out a nervous laugh.

Louis clears his throat. “I...I was joking, sorry, I thought that was, uh, obvious.”

Now Harry starts full-on cackling, and Louis can hear Zayn pick up the phone and walk over to another room.

“Shit. Sorry.” Zayn says. “I--”

“No, no, I understand, you want me there to help clean up, right?” 

Louis can practically hear Zayn breathe a sigh of relief. “Yes, sorry. Sorry. I mean you’re totally invited to stay for the party, too. I mean, if...if you want.”

“Really?” Louis asks, genuinely surprised.

“Yeah! Yeah, of course! Bring your mates, if you want. Harry and I were just wondering if you could come down in the next hour or so to help us tidy up the place a bit and move some furniture around.”

“I’m not really much of a lifting furniture kind of guy, unfortunately…”

“Oh. Okay then, I--”

“...but I have a couple friends who could probably help! Definitely help, I mean. If you’d be okay with them coming along with me.”

“Yeah, sure, mate, the more the merrier, right?”

Louis perks up right then, because if his ears haven't deceived him, which he was sure they hadn’t, Zayn had just called him his mate. His _mate_! Does this mean they’re friends? Holy shit, what the hell is happening?

“Okay, um, cool! I’ll try and get there by around 4:30, is that all right?” Louis responds, trying to sound calm.

“Yeah, sounds good! Knock loud! Bye!”

“Bye!” Louis replies, and before he can back up and ask why Zayn had asked him to knock loud, the other boy hangs up, and Louis is left staring at his phone, absorbing up the information he’d just been given.

He was going to a party.

At a _celebrity’s_ apartment.

Shit.

He picks up his phone, rapidly typing out a text to Niall and Liam.

 

_DROP EVERYTHING. Get dressed & come home in 30min. Don’t ask why just trust me._

 

Louis smiles down at his phone and then falls back onto his bed, squealing. 

 

\------------

 

Once Niall and Liam learn about the plans for the night and the initial shock has worn off, Louis manages to get them over to Zayn and Harry’s apartment on time, and right before he knocks, he remembers Zayn’s request. So he instead of using his knuckles, he turns his fist to the side and starts pounding on the door.

Liam starts lecturing Louis on what it means to be a guest and Niall’s laughing, but both immediately quiet down as the door to apartment opens and Zayn looks at them, smiling. “Hey!” He calls out, and Louis can tell that he’s already a bit buzzed. “Come in, come in!” He says, ushering the trio indoors. Louis now understands why Zayn asked him to knock loudly--he can barely hear himself think. Music is flooding through the apartment, ridiculously loud, and Louis can clearly see the cause of it: Harry Styles, definitely a bit buzzed as well, screaming along to the lyrics of some unknown song as he jumps on his couch. Zayn runs over and shuts off the speakers, and everything quiets down except for Harry, who’s still singing along to the song, not yet aware that it’s been shut off.

Louis gulps. Harry’s a good singer. Like, _really_ good. How does he not know this?

Harry finally stops singing and looks around, confused. His eyes fall on Zayn first, who’s clearly amused, and then on the three newcomers, all with the same shocked expression on their faces. He doesn’t miss a beat, though, and hops off the couch, not even a bit embarrassed of what everyone has just seen. 

“Lewis!” He cries out, pulling the boy into a hug, and Louis nervously reciprocates the action, his heart pounding so hard it hurts.

“Hey, Har--uh, Mr. Styles! Having fun?”

Harry pulls back, eyes gleaming. “You know it!” He turns to the two boys behind Louis. “Who are these dashing gentlemen?”

“Well, uh--”

“Niall. Niall Horan.” The blond says, stepping forward, holding his hand out for Harry to shake. Harry eyes it for a second and then pulls Niall into a hug, squeezing him tight. “Niall! Like the river, right? Ha! Good to meet you, man, good to meet you.”

“Likewise.” Niall chokes out, coughing a bit when Harry lets go of him.

“And you?” Harry says, turning towards Liam, smile growing.

“Uh…”

“That’s Liam! He also works for Minute Maids.”

Liam gives a tight smile but doesn’t move when Harry holds his arms open, inviting him in for a hug. The tall boy shrugs and turns over to Louis.

“Two maids. Smart. Smart decision.” He says, leaning in close. “Smart. You’re a smart guy. That’s why we like you.”

Louis can smell Harry’s breath, and the scent combined with Harry’s actions over the past few minutes convinces him that Harry is definitely past a bit buzzed. 

“Thanks?” He replies.

“Okay, Styles, go take a breather.” Zayn says, pulling Harry off Louis and pushing him towards their bedroom.

“But I’m not tired!” Harry whines. He walks into the bedroom anyways, stopping to wink at Louis before he shuts the door.

“Right. Now that that’s over,” Zayn says, turning to face the three boys in front of him, “let’s get to work.”

 

The next few hours are spent tidying up the place, though there’s not too much to do with so many helping hands, especially since all the big messes were taken care of by Louis the last time he’d come over.

“Damn, Louis, how come you can’t keep _our_ apartment this clean?” Niall asks, only to get a small shove from Louis. 

Liam is thoroughly impressive, however, and Louis realizes he’s never seen the boy at work before, and it’s almost beautiful, the way he cleans. “You’re like an artist.” He says out loud, and Liam looks up, amused. 

“Um. Thanks. I try.”

 

Louis turns out to have made a great decision by bringing Liam and Niall over, since it takes all four boys to move the furniture from the living room into the master bedroom. Harry is sprawled out on the bed, lightly snoring, and Zayn just chuckles and shakes his head. “What an absolute tosser.” He says, but Louis can see the love in his eyes, and it warms his heart and makes his stomach flip with nervousness at the same time.

 

By around 7:30, the apartment’s been practically completely rearranged, with the large couches in the front room pushed up by the walls and the majority of the room cleared up to become a makeshift dance floor. Zayn pulls out an impossibly large black rug from one of his closets and lays it down.

“Dance floor.” He says to the inquisitive faces around him. “Hard to get stains out from a cream-colored carpet. Easy to hide stains on a black one.” He smirks, and then shakes his head when Niall reaches down to touch the shaggy rug. “I wouldn’t do that, mate. God lone knows what’s been spilled onto this thing. Which reminds me, I should get it cleaned…”

Louis rolls his eyes, party in disgust, but also because using this rug is probably one of the most ridiculous things he’s ever seen someone do. Zayn just smiles and shrugs.

“You do what you gotta do, man. Now who’s up for some pizza?”

And that’s that.

 

\------------

 

By midnight, the party’s going strong and Louis has Liam on one arm and Niall on the other. Niall’s probably the most drunk, no surprise, but Louis has enough alcohol in his system to feel it practically coursing through his veins and it looks like even Liam let himself go a little bit. The three are standing in a corner, calling out every celebrity they can see, and it’s been quite a few so far. They manage to catch Cher Lloyd at one point, and even spot Nick Grimshaw grinding up on some guy a little bit later. 

 

Suddenly Liam pales, though, and lets out a small whimper, looking right into the middle of the dance floor. Louis and Niall follow his gaze to a petite girl with curly brown hair. She’s got a dazzling smile and she’s huddled up with a couple of girls, easily moving to the beat. Louis doesn’t have to ask, but Niall does anyway.

“Is that Danielle, mate?” He manages to slur out.

It’s like Liam has completely sobered up and he nods, still pale.

“She’s right fit, man!” Niall yells, and earns a glare from Liam. But Louis can see why--if he was straight, he’d probably want her too.

“Liam, go talk to her!” Louis says, smiling and pushing Liam forward. But the other boy stays still, frozen with shock.

“If you don’t, man, I will.” Niall says finally, raising his eyebrows with a smirk. “See you boys later!” He finishes, letting go of Louis’ arm and making a big show of walking towards Danielle, swaying his hips dramatically.

Louis feels Liam tense up and grabs his arm tightly. “Don’t worry about Niall! He’s just joking.” He says, but he looks on, and Niall doesn’t seem to be fooling around. He’s already laughing, his arm around the girl’s shoulders, and Danielle and her friends are giggling over Niall’s obvious drunkenness. 

It’s him leaning over to whisper something into Danielle’s ear that finally sets Liam off, and he easily pushes Louis away and walks up to the group. Louis sees Danielle’s face flash with recognition and then she’s smiling, reaching out to hug Liam, but the boy is still tense and stiff, probably scared out of his wits. Niall removes his arm from Danielle’s shoulders and instead swings it across one of her friends’, a girl who seems to be as drunk as he is. 

 

“Having fun?” A voice whispers in his ear, and Louis turns to see Zayn, all smiles.

“Yeah!” Louis says back. “I can’t believe how many famous people are here!”

As soon as that sentence slips out of his mouth, the small part of him that’s still sober wishes he could draw it back because, seriously, could he have said anything less cool? But the drunk part of him doesn’t care, all that matters is that Zayn’s here, next to him, fucking _whispering_ in his ear, and Louis loves it.

“I can’t believe _you’re_ here.” Zayn replies, smiling, and Louis can feel a blush blooming across his cheeks. “Wanna dance?”

And Louis doesn’t know what it is. Maybe it’s the alcohol, maybe it’s the music, maybe it’s the way Zayn’s looking at him, like he’s something new and amazing, something Zayn really wants. Maybe it’s all of that, Louis has no idea, but he surprises himself by smiling back and nodding. “Yeah, let’s do it,” he says, and Zayn grabs his hand and leads him onto the dance floor.

 

\------------

 

Louis doesn’t know how long it’s been or what time it is, and he has no idea where his friends are. Niall’s out of sight, but Louis can see Liam dancing with Danielle. The dancer is moving her body gratefully, and though Liam isn’t much of a dancer himself, he somehow seems to fit perfectly with Danielle, his body curving into hers and moving perfectly in time. 

 

He wouldn’t mind directing his full attention towards the couple if it wasn’t for the pair of hands currently settled on his waist and the pelvis slowly grinding onto his. 

Zayn is close, really close, close enough for Louis to smell the grenadine from his last shot, and god, he’d give anything to taste it too. He doesn’t know how long he’s been dancing with Zayn like this, but it doesn’t seem like it’s been long enough, and their moves seem to get filthier with every passing minute, Zayn’s lips slowly but surely inching their way towards Louis’. 

It’s hot, and Louis doesn’t think it can get much better until a new voice reaches his ear.

“Can I join the party?” Harry asks, his voice deep, dripping with intoxication, and Louis nods, pulling his hands off of Zayn’s shoulders, trying to hide his disappointment. He’s ready to hand the boy back to Harry, but Harry has other plans and rests his hands on Louis’ hips instead, right below Zayn’s, pressing himself against Louis’ back, sandwiching the boy in between himself and Zayn.

 

Louis is overwhelmed, to say the least. He doesn’t know what to do with his arms and decides to put them back where they were, curling his fingers into Zayn’s hair. He can feel Zayn’s hands--or are they Harry’s?--move upward, snaking underneath Louis’ shirt, and he shudders at the feeling of the rough hands against his skin. He can just imagine what they must look like, Harry nuzzling into his neck and Zayn resting his forehead against Louis’, all three grinding against each other, moving to the same beat.

Just the thought of the sight is enough to make Louis hard, and he can practically _feel_ Zayn smile as he presses against Louis’ erection. Louis can’t help but moan, and with that sound Harry is pressing harder against him, and Louis can feel Harry’s growing length rubbing against his ass and Zayn’s still there, still grinding against him, his hips unrelenting as he gets harder too, matching up with Harry’s movements.

It’s pure bliss, and Louis can’t help himself, he tilts his head back so it’s resting on Harry’s chest. He opens his eyes and sees the two other boys making out and _shit_ , it’s even hotter than before, because now he’s so close and he can see their tongues, the way they’re battling for dominance, their lips molding themselves around each other.

His own tongue darts out, swiping across his bottom lip, and the movement doesn’t go unnoticed by Zayn, who breaks apart from Harry and leans into Louis.

And then Louis is kissing Zayn. 

And it’s more amazing than he could’ve ever imagined.

He can taste the sweet cherry syrup he had smelled on Zayn’s breath earlier, mixed with something bitter and sour, with an aftertaste of tobacco. Zayn’s lips part easily, and Louis is lost in the moment, savoring every movement of Zayn’s as his tongue makes its way into the other boy’s mouth. And while this is all going on, this massive event, he can still feel Harry at his side, kissing his neck, marking it with lovebites, pressing into him as hard as he can.

That’s when Louis knows--they want him. They _both_ want him.

And he can have them both.

 

\------------


	5. Chapter 4

\------------

  

When Harry wakes up, someone punches him in the face. At least, that’s what it feels like. 

It takes him a minute, but then he realizes that it’s just another hangover, so he doesn’t move, hoping that his head’ll stop pounding. 

He reaches his arm out, hoping to catch some part of Zayn, but ends up grabbing a handful of something else instead. He slowly turns his head to see Louis’ bum just a few inches away from him and smiles. He remembers all three of them falling into bed last night, horny and buzzed, and is a bit disappointed to see that both him and Louis still have their clothes on. He’s sure they were all facing the same way, but Louis must have performed some sort of acrobatic feat over the last few hours and because he’s now curled into a ball, his head facing the foot of the bed; Harry can feel the older boy’s hair tickling his shins.

He looks over Louis’ body and can see Zayn, also peacefully asleep and fully clothed, turned to the side with his arm resting on Louis’ waist. The three of them are probably a strange sight at the moment, but the two boys next to him look so adorable that Harry can’t be bothered to care. 

Moving as little as possible, he sheds his clothing, so that he’s lying in the nude, and turns towards Louis, falling back asleep, his hand resting on the other boy’s bum.

 

\------------

 

Louis wakes up with his head pounding and mouth dry, and wonders why the first thing to come into focus is a pair of legs. He sits up too fast, cursing the pain that shoots through his head, and sees Zayn’s hand on his waist. He can feel another hand, too, and rolls his eyes when he sees Harry practically cuddling with his ass. 

Harry’s completely naked, though, and for a second Louis panics, wondering if anything crazy happened last night, but he realizes that both him and Zayn still have their clothes on, so Harry had probably just stripped in his sleep or something. 

 

He slowly slides off the bed, careful not to wake the other boys, and walks over to the bathroom, examining the damage in the mirror. His hair looks fine, albeit a bit floppy, but that’s expected. He winces, though, as he catches a glimpse of the multitude of bruises adorning his jawline and neck--he vaguely remembers Harry going to town on his jaw last night. 

Last night. _Fuck_.

He frowns, trying to recollect what happened, but all he can remember is a waterfall of booze and then...dancing, right? Slow dancing? And then it all comes rushing back, and he can feel Zayn and Harry pressed against him, relishing his presence, and the _kiss_. 

 

Oh god.

 

Louis is 100% sure that he actually might have ended up sleeping with the pair last night if they hadn’t all passed out when they hit the mattress. But they would’ve all been drunk, and that’s not what Louis wants. He wants them, wants them both so badly, but he wants them all fully aware of what’s happening, wants it to be completely consensual. He wants to boys to sleep with him because they actually _like_ him, and he knows that last night only happened because the boys were completely smashed.

 

He was wrong about them, but he’s not surprised. Why would they actually want _him_?

 

\------------

 

When Louis gets home, the sun is significantly higher in the sky and Niall’s up, humming as he fries up some eggs.

“Good night?” Louis asks, his voice hoarse.

“Got a 10 in the bed.” Niall replies cheekily, winking.

“She’s still here? Augh, please wash the sheets when she leaves.”

“Hey, _you’re_ the maid, mate!”

“You have a maid?” A new voice calls out, and Louis turns to see Danielle’s friend from last night, the especially drunk one that Niall had his hands all over. “She doesn’t seem to be doing a very good job…”

Niall laughs and Louis scowls, while the girl just stands there, blushing and clearly confused. “I’ll be sure to pass the message along!” Niall replies, winking at Louis. The girl turns, sees Louis, and jumps a bit, frightened. 

“I don’t look _that_ bad, do I?” Louis says, smiling a bit.

“Nah,” Niall replies, walking over with a plate of food, which he hands to the girl, Louis notes sourly, and not him. So much for being his best friend. “But I think something attacked your neck last night.”

The girl giggles and Niall leans in for a kiss. Louis rolls his eyes and walks towards the bedroom, shedding his clothes as he goes. “Keep it PG-13!” He yells over his shoulder, smiling.

 

He hops in the shower and turns the water on full blast, letting the warm spray soak him from head to toe. His bruises sting, but he pays them no attention, instead letting his mind drift back to what had happened the night before. The more he thinks about it, the more Louis can feel butterflies, and when he looks down, he’s already hard. 

“Shit,” he mutters, trying to think of anything, _anything_ , that’ll calm his erection down, but all he can think about is Zayn’s lips on his, and all he can feel is that pair of rough hands sliding up and down his waist, and before he knows it, he’s got his cock in his hand, slowly stroking himself to the beat of the music they were dancing to last night.

He can still feel Harry, hard and pressing into his ass, and just the thought of Harry actually inside Louis is enough to make him quicken his strokes, his breath catching. And then there’s Zayn rubbing himself against Louis, and he imagines the other boy with both their dicks in his hand, pleasuring them both at the same time, and _god,_ he’s so close now, _fuck_. 

But he has to feel them both to come, has to remember how it felt to have both bodies pressed against his, both boys focused on him, just him, and that’s how Louis succumbs to his orgasm, his whole body shaking as he comes into his hand.

 

\------------

 

Zayn opens his eyes with a shiver, reaching for a blanket.   
Except there isn’t one.

He opens his eyes slowly, letting them adjust to the light, and looks over to see Harry. He’s not surprised that the boy is naked, but he is curious as to why he’s so far away from him. They’re usually close sleepers and wake up tangled together.

And then he remembers. _Louis_. 

Last night comes back in a flash, and a smile grows on Zayn’s face because Louis liked it. He let both Zayn _and_ Harry have him. Plus Zayn got to kiss him and wow. Talk about progress.

It takes him a while, however, to realize that Louis isn’t there. He feels the empty space next to him and finds that it’s cold, meaning that Louis hasn’t been in bed for a while. He slowly gets up, stretching, and walks to the bathroom, but it’s empty. So is the rest of the house, and by the time Zayn gets back to the bedroom, he’s panicking, shaking Harry awake.

 

Harry groans and opens his eyes. “What do you want?!” He says, clearly miffed.

“Where’s Louis?” Zayn asks, worried.

“What do mean, where’s Louis,” Harry says, motioning to the space next to him. “He’s right--” Harry stops when he notices that the bed is empty. He turns back to Zayn, confused. “Uh...where’s Louis?”

Zayn rolls his eyes. “You’re such an ass.”

Harry closes his eyes, smiling. “Yeah, it’s such an ass, innit?”

Zayn definitely would’ve chuckled at Harry’s joke if it wasn’t for the fact that Louis is gone and he doesn’t know why. He finds his phone and calls Louis’ number, but he only gets his voicemail. He tries texting Louis instead.

 

_Hey Louis. It’s Zayn. You all right? xx_

 

He waits a couple minutes and gets no response, and right as he’s about to throw the phone on the ground and actually drive his ass over to Louis’ place, his phone chimes.

 

_Yea, all good. Hell of a hangover tho. Must’ve been a good party! :)_

 

Zayn’s heart stops. Does Louis really not remember anything? He types a message back.

 

_Really was, got pretty crazy. Especially you ;) xx_

 

There. That sounded flirty enough, right?

 

_Hope I didn’t make too much of a fool of myself haha. I’ll see you on Monday. Got a bunch to clean, I’m guessing_

 

Crap. Louis doesn’t remember. And if he does, it certainly doesn’t seem like he wants to. Zayn sits for a while, just staring at his phone, crestfallen. After some time he takes a deep breath and replies back.

 

_Yeah I guess, see ya_

 

He flops back onto his bed. Louis wasn’t _that_ drunk. There was no way he could’ve forgotten the night. Which could only mean that he’s not trying to bring it up. Is he embarrassed? He certainly didn’t seem to be when they were dancing. Then again, that could’ve just been the alcohol…

Zayn sits up straight. No. He’s not going to let Louis forget this. He’s so close to getting Louis right where he wants him, and he’s not going to suffer any setbacks now. He looks over and shakes Harry awake again. The other boy groans but pushes himself up onto his elbows.   
“What _now_?” He says, defeated. His expression changes to one of curiosity when he sees Zayn’s steely gaze, though. “Wait, what happened?”

“Shut up and put some clothes on.” He says to Harry, who looks genuinely surprised at Zayn’s tone of voice. “We’ve got some cleaning to do.”

 

\------------

 

Louis sighs. He doesn’t even bother looking at the assignment board. It’s a Monday, he knows who he’s going to get. The only reason he glances at it is because Liam pesters him to, and of course, he’s not surprised to see the “ _Styles/Malik_ ” printed next to his name.

 

“Told you.” He says to Liam, sitting next to him on the bench. “Where’re you headed off to?”

“Uh, Dani’s.” Liam says, blushing slightly, something that doesn’t slip past Louis’ gaze.

“Speaking of,” Louis says, turning to face Liam, “what happened to you on Saturday? Niall and I called and texted, but uh, you seemed...busy?”

Liam blushes harder now, his cheeks a bright pink. “Yeah, uh, some errands and stuff, y’know.”

“Right.” Louis says, drawing out the word. “Errands that got you to start calling Danielle _Dani_?”

Liam freezes, and Louis smirks. “I _knew_ it!” He cries, swinging an arm around Liam’s shoulders. “You got it in, didn’t you?”

“Don’t say it like that!” Liam says, his face still hot. “We...might’ve done some...things.”

“Good, good.” Louis says, patting him on the back. “And, uh, you planning on doing some more of those _things_ while you’re at her place today?”

“Actually, uh, she’s got rehearsals today. She won’t be home all day.”

“Memorized her schedule already, Payne? A+!”

“Shut _up_ , Louis!” Liam says, shoving the other boy playfully, but he smiles, and Louis can’t help but bite his lip at how adorable Liam looks.

“Hey.” He says, waiting until Liam’s looking at him. “I’m happy for you.”

“It’s...it’s nothing. It was one night, who knows if it’ll turn into anything?”

“I do. And you wanna know how?”

Liam sighs. “How, Louis?”

“Because it’s _you_ , you hopeless romantic. Now hurry up, I don’t want to be late. That apartment probably reeks of booze and vomit by now and I’m going to need as much time as I can get to have the place clean by afternoon.”

“All right, all right.” Liam says, getting up. He pauses for a second and reaches out to touch Louis’ neck. “Hey, you all right?”

It’s Louis’ turn to freeze, but he tries to play it off. “Uh, yeah, why?”

“You’ve got some-- _oh_.” Liam says, realizing what he’s looking at. Louis silently curses himself for not using more concealer. The damn bruises Harry had left on him were fading, but not fast enough, and Louis was forced to go purchase makeup in order to look presentable for work, an ordeal he never thought he’d have to go through. “Looks like I wasn’t the only one who had some fun at that party.” Liam says, smirking.

“Shove it, Payne.”

 

\------------

 

The drive to the apartment seems shorter than usual, probably because Louis is dreading reaching the destination, and soon he finds himself standing in front of that damned door for the fourth time. How come he never seems to feel good when he arrives at this place?

He lets himself in, holding his breath, and steps carefully to the window, opening the blinds and flooding the place with light. 

And his jaw drops.

 

The place is _spotless_. Completely and totally clean. No trash, no mess, no nothing. All the furniture has been moved back into place, the disgusting black rug gone--and hopefully at the dry cleaner’s by now. It smells great, like someone just sprayed the place with air freshener or something, and Louis can’t believe it. There’s no way the boys did this themselves. Did they hire someone else and forget to cancel Louis’ appointment? Shit.

 

“Hi.” Louis hears, and turns to see Zayn and Harry. Zayn is standing a few feet away, hands in his pockets, looking a bit apprehensive, but Harry is leaning against a wall, practically glaring at Louis, and he looks pissed. 

Louis gulps.

“Did you two do all this?” He says, motioning to the room around him.

Zayn opens his mouth to reply but Harry speaks first, his tone sharp. “Yeah. It took us two whole fucking days. We didn’t even go out last night.” 

Louis winces, still a bit afraid of Harry at the moment. He notices Harry’s eyes traveling up and down Louis, stopping at his neck, no doubt admiring his disappearing and badly-disguised handiwork. He watches a smirk grow on Harry’s face.

“Do...uh, do you remember anything? From the party?” Zayn pipes up, and Louis’ eyes snap back to him. He looks sad and lost, and for a second all Louis wants to do is comfort him, to kiss him and press those soft lips against his own. But he stays rooted to the spot.

“Um, not much.” He says, lying, and he can see Harry narrow his eyes. “Little bits and pieces, but nothing incredibly important happened, right?” Louis finishes, putting on a little smile. The instant he sees Zayn’s face, though, his heart falls. The boy looks utterly defeated and completely worn out. 

“No, nothing important happened.” Zayn says, his voice catching. “Everything’s done here. You can go.” He adds, his voice cold. He turns and walks quickly back to the bedroom, shutting the door.

 

Louis doesn’t know what to do, so he looks at the floor, not moving until Harry pushes himself off the wall and starts walking towards Louis. “You’re an asshole, you know that?” He says, and Louis looks up at him. His expression is dead serious, and Louis is really fucking scared now, because it looks like Harry might punch him in the face.

But instead, Harry walks past him. Louis lets out a relieved sigh, but inhales sharply as Harry appears right behind him, pressing into him like he’d done a couple nights back. “Does this feel...familiar?” Harry says, his voice low in Louis’ ear.

Louis’ heart begins to race, but he doesn’t reply. Harry places his hands on Louis’ hips and pulls them back onto his own, his hands slowly untucking Louis’ shirt and traveling up his sides. Louis’ breath catches as he recognizes the rough skin on him, and he realizes that those were Harry’s hands that were exploring his body that night. He doesn’t mean to, but he relaxes into Harry’s touch, just a little bit. It’s enough for Harry to notice, though, and before Louis can react, Harry’s spun him around to face him and slammed Louis’ back up against a wall.

It should hurt, it really should, but Louis can’t see anything besides the green of Harry’s eyes and he’s so scared he’s practically numb.

“You little liar.” Harry spits out, and Louis prepares himself for a fist to his face but instead receives a pair of lips, large and unrelenting, attacking his own.

Harry’s _kissing_ him. But it’s nothing like what Zayn’s kiss was, sweet and inviting and neat. It’s rough and hard and messy, and yet Louis can’t help but melt into it, wrapping his hands around Harry’s neck as Harry pushes him even harder into the wall. Louis can barely breathe but he can’t stop kissing Harry back, and the younger boy straight-up _bites_ Louis’ bottom lip, making Louis yelp and pull away, eyes still hazy and unfocused. 

He’s at least half a foot off the ground, being held up by Harry’s hands on his waist, the boy’s grip so tight he has a sinking feeling that he’s going to bruise.

“I...I’m sorry.” Louis manages to say, still out of breath, and Harry lets him go, holding him steady as his knees buckle a bit when his feet touch the ground.

“Good.” He replies. “But I’m not the only one you should be apologizing to.”

 

\------------

 

When they open the door to the bedroom, Zayn’s sitting on the edge of the bed, staring off into space. He’s obviously surprised when Louis walks in along with Harry, but he doesn’t say anything.

Harry watches Zayn take in Louis’ changed appearance. His shirt’s untucked and wrinkled, his hair’s sticking up a bit, his lips are bitten and bruised, and his cheeks are flushed. Zayn gives Harry a questioning glance, and Harry just gives a curt nod back, knowing Zayn will understand. 

He looks over at Louis now, who has the demeanor of a sad little puppy, and shakes his head. He watches Louis straighten out his shirt and flatten down his hair, taking a few deep breaths before he speaks.

 

“I lied.” He says, and that’s enough to completely change Zayn’s disposition. “I lied, and I’m sorry. I--I didn’t know if what happened was real, because frankly, it all just felt like a really drugged-up dream or something.”

Louis’ gaze is flickering between Harry and Zayn now. “It was amazing, doing...doing what we did, and I tried to forget it because I thought that the only reason it happened was because you were both drunk.”

Harry catches Zayn’s lips turn up a little bit, and he bites his own lip to keep from smiling, because Louis is going into full-on rant mode out of nervousness, just like the first time they met him, and _fuck_ , it’s so adorable.

“And I loved it, I really did, but I didn’t want it to be like that, I wanted it to be something I’d remember, something we’d _all_ remember, because, well, _shit_ , look at you two!” Louis continues, his voice getting higher. “You’re like fucking Greek gods or something, and I’m just some nobody fucking _cleaning_ for you guys, you can’t blame me for thinking that this was all just a figment of my imagination and--seriously, do you two think this is _funny_?!”

And Harry can’t help but smile as Zayn smiles too, because Louis looks like he’s about to throw a tantrum. 

 

“Hey, hey, sorry.” Zayn says, standing up and putting his hands on Louis’ shoulders, and  the boy instantly relaxes, his eyes wide. “But, um, just so you know, I...I wasn’t drunk.”

Louis doesn’t reply for a couple seconds, but when he does, his voice is so high that he practically squeaks. “What?”

Zayn shrugs. “I really only had like one shot? I don’t really drink when we have parties here, because I need to keep an eye on the place. I wanna be a good host and all, y’know.”

Louis still isn’t moving, his brain still processing the information he’d just been presented with, and Harry decides to speak up.

“I was drunk.” He says, and Louis looks at him, confused. “But I knew what I was doing the entire time I was doing it. I remember the whole thing.” He finishes, and Louis’ expression is back to what it was before, a mixture of shock and disbelief and a flicker of something that Harry recognizes as hope.

“So,” Louis starts, voice shaking. “Um, we all, uh, remember...everything?”

“Yeah.” Harry and Zayn say at the same time, sending each other amused looks.

“And no one...regrets anything?” Louis asks, looking between Harry and Zayn. Harry shakes his head with a smile as Zayn grins and says, “Definitely not.”

“Well. Um. Okay then.” Louis finishes, fingers playing with the hem of his shirt. “So...what now?”

Zayn raises his eyebrow at Harry, who just raises an eyebrow back at him. Harry watches Zayn move closer to Louis and lift his face up gently, his eyes twinkling. “How about we start with this?” Zayn says, and presses his lips to Louis’.

 

Harry’s seen Zayn kiss people before, but never quite like this. He knows how Zayn looks like when they kiss, thanks to their sex tape--another reason to not let anyone under their bed--and it’s hot and passionate and amazing. 

But the way Zayn is holding Louis right now is something completely different. It’s not even comparable. It’s gentle, like Zayn is afraid he’ll break Louis, and Harry realizes that he kisses Louis in the complete opposite way. Still, it’s mesmerizing to watch the two, to see how Louis easily fits his arms around Zayn’s chest, pulling them close, to see them both become so involved in just a kiss.

Zayn breaks it apart, fingers tracing Louis’ jawline. “Looks like Harry left his mark.” He jokes, and Louis bites his lip, smiling. 

“I had to cover it up for work. Sorry, Harry.” He replies, glancing over at Harry, who’s smiling as well. 

Harry clears his throat, striding over to the pair. “That’s, uh, Mr. Styles to you.” He says, pulling Louis in for a kiss.

 

\------------

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LOL WOW I'M SUCH AN ASSHOLE LOOK AT THIS CLIFFHANGER OF AN ENDING I SUCK DON'T I HA   
> don't worry, even I hate myself lol
> 
> but GUESS WHAT'S COMING UP IN THE NEXT CHAPTER?!?
> 
> (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ *SMUT:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ


	6. Chapter 5

\------------

 

Louis' head is spinning. He can't quite wrap his head around what's actually happening at the moment, because Harry's lips are pressed against his while Zayn is rubbing small circles into his shoulders. It feels so good that Louis can't help but moan into Harry's mouth, causing the other boy to tighten his grip in Louis' hair. 

He must be slipping in and out of consciousness because the next thing he knows, he's shirtless and so is Harry, the two pressed together, hot skin on hot skin. Zayn reaches from behind and removes his slacks, and Louis tries to step out of them gracefully, but ends up tangling his legs in the fabric and falling onto the bed, pulling Harry down on top of him. 

"Shit." He mutters, sitting up as Harry lets out a laugh. "It's not funny!" 

 

He's about to protest some more but then Zayn is there, kissing Louis again in nothing but his boxers, and Louis swears his heart is beating irregularly because oh my god, this is happening, this is actually happening. 

Louis breaks the kiss just so he can look at Zayn's face and take in the dazed look in his eyes and his full pink lips. He absentmindedly draws his thumb across them and Zayn wraps his lips around the digit, leaving Louis gasping because it's wet and hot and _perfect_ and he can feel himself getting hard at just that. 

 

Harry starts rubbing one of his hands along the inside of Louis' thigh, and he shudders and puts his hand on Harry's, stopping him. Harry raises his eyebrows but doesn't say anything as Louis pulls Harry's pants off, pressing a hard kiss to his lips before leaving a trail of kisses down to Harry's boxers. He's already a bit hard, and Louis just goes with it, blowing hot breaths against the tent in Harry's boxers until Harry is swearing at him, pulling his own underwear off just so he can have some sort of relief. 

And Louis just stares because _wow_. Seeing Harry naked is one thing, but seeing him erect, even partially, is a totally different experience. Louis had heard rumors about Harry's size but never actually thought them to be true until now. 

Zayn laughs and leans in to Louis. "Just wait till he's inside you. It's fucking _amazing_." He whispers. Louis reaches out and grips Zayn's forearm, digging his nails into his skin as he tries to imagine the feeling, but Zayn just reaches down with his other hand and slowly palms Louis' erection through his underwear. "You want him in you, don't you?" He whispers to Louis again, and Louis nods, breathing out an agreement as he presses up against Zayn's hand. He looks down and sees Harry watching the two of them, his own hand slowly stroking his length, eyes glittering. 

 

Louis lets go of Zayn’s arm and leans forward, wrapping his hand around Harry’s cock and pushing Harry’s hand away. He slowly moves his hand up and down Harry’s length, making sure to not break eye contact with the boy. He lifts his head up and carefully licks the very tip of Harry’s penis, just a touch, but enough to make the younger boy shudder beneath him. Satisfied, Louis wraps his lips around the head of Harry’s cock, swirling his tongue over the sensitive spot, watching Harry unravel underneath him. He doesn’t even bother trying to fit all of Harry inside his mouth, because he knows that would be damn near impossible, so he just focuses his efforts on the more sensitive areas, continuing to work the tip with his tongue and making sure to touch every other part of him with his hands. 

Louis feels Zayn pull down his underwear and he climbs out of it, letting Zayn rub his hands all over his exposed ass. 

“Y’know,” Zayn begins, squeezing Louis’ bum, “this is the reason I first became obsessed with you.” 

Louis isn’t sure when dirty talk became so hot to him, but hearing that is enough to make him moan contentedly, the noise vibrating against Harry’s cock. Harry gasps and pulls Louis off with a small pop. “We need to do this now.” He says, tangling his fingers through Louis’ hair.

 

Harry reaches over into the nightstand and tosses Zayn a bottle of lube, fishing out a condom for his own use at the same time. Louis watches him stretch it over his length, marveling at how it manages to fit, and lets out a loud gasp when he feels Zayn’s finger press unexpectedly against him. Zayn uses his other hand to rub large circles into Louis’ back as he pushes one finger inside him, and Louis lets out a long moan as Zayn slowly moves it in and out of him, biting his lip when he automatically slips in a second finger as well. 

“Yes,” Louis manages to breathe out, pushing back onto Zayn’s fingers. “Fuck, Zayn, one more, _please_.”

“You’re an impatient little one, aren’t you?” Zayn chuckles, but obliges nonetheless, inserting three fingers into Louis, moving them around slowly so the boy can adjust. Louis rocks back onto Zayn’s hand, letting out small appreciative hums every few seconds, but whines when Zayn takes his fingers out. 

“It’s Harry’s turn now.” Zayn says in reply to Louis’ protest, moving to the front of him, and Louis turns to look at the curly-haired boy, who’s now stroking himself again, eyes locked on Louis. 

“I...I don’t now how much I--” Louis begins, but Zayn silences him with a kiss.

“Just take what you can,” he whispers against Louis’ lips, guiding the boy over to Harry.

 

Louis straddles Harry’s hips, watching the boy watch him with utter fascination. He reaches down, finding Harry’s cock, and presses it against his entrance, moaning a bit at the sensation. He closes his eyes and he slowly pushes himself down, allowing as much of Harry to enter him as possible. 

Once he’s sure he can’t take any more, he opens his eyes to see Harry and Zayn right next to each other, both looking up at Louis, amazed. He’s confused for a moment, but when he shifts a bit--causing both him and Harry to groan appreciatively--he realizes that he’s taken _all_ of Harry in, and looks a little shocked himself.

“ _Fuck_ , Louis.” Harry says, breathing hard.

 

Louis starts slowly grinding against Harry, relishing the warmth of Harry’s pelvis against his thighs; he feels so incredibly _full_ , and it feels so, so good. He moves his hips in circles, watching Harry intently, seeing how he has to bite his full pink lips to restrain himself. He reaches down and takes Harry’s hands, so huge in his own small pair, and places them on his hips, nodding. 

Harry immediately starts grinding back up against Louis, hips moving in slow but sure movements, his curls damp against his forehead. Louis can practically feel his eyes roll back into his head because Harry's hitting his prostate with every thrust and it’s almost too much. Harry’s thumbs are pressing bruises into Louis’ hipbones and Louis is close, _so_ close, and he’s sure Harry is too, because Harry’s slowed down his movements but is moaning louder.

 

And then Zayn’s there, pressing his lips against Harry’s, swallowing his moans, his hand wrapped around his own erection, pumping hard. Louis watches Zayn’s tongue slip easily in and out of Harry’s mouth, and realizes how incredibly in tune they are with one another, practiced hands settling easily on each other’s bodies. 

Zayn breaks apart from Harry and gets on his knees, pulling Louis in for a kiss as well. Louis turns his head so that Zayn is forced to straddle Harry to continue the kiss, his chest pressed against Louis' with his back facing the other boy.

Louis reaches down and begins jacking Zayn off, slowly at first, then faster, and Zayn’s doing the same for him, kissing him deeper with each stroke. Then Zayn pulls Louis’ hand off and takes them both into his own hand, slowly stroking them together, and Louis can do nothing but close his eyes and try to keep his breathing regular because this is everything he’s ever wanted, exactly what he had imagined when he had jacked off in the shower a few nights ago thinking about Harry pushing into him, about Zayn getting them both off. 

 

Zayn suddenly yelps and drops his head on Louis’ shoulder, his breathing ragged, and Louis looks down to see that Harry’s slipped his thumb inside Zayn, pushing it in and out so fast that Zayn’s bucking his hips and rubbing against Louis even faster, and then everything hits Louis all at once and he grabs Zayn’s head, pressing their lips together as he comes onto Zayn. He feels dizzy again and he can see stars behind his eyelids but he keeps himself upright, riding out his orgasm slowly, lips still locked with Zayn’s as Zayn releases himself onto Louis’ stomach. 

And then Harry is swearing and shaking, and Louis can feel him thrust one final time as he comes.

 

The room is silent, save for the labored breathing of all three boys, and Louis doesn’t want to move from this position and doesn’t really think he could if he tried. 

Zayn is the first to move, rolling off of Harry, falling onto the bed, sighing happily, and Louis knows that he should move too, so he tries his hardest to lift himself off of Harry, only to end up mostly falling off of the younger boy and onto Zayn, who starts laughing.

“Smooth.” He says, but gently strokes Louis’ hair.

“I don’t think I can feel my legs.” Louis replies softly, humming happily at Zayn’s touch.

“Same thing happened to me the first time, mate.” Zayn replies, chuckling.

Louis looks over and Harry’s taken the condom off and is tossing it onto the floor.

“Ew!” Louis cries. “You’re disgusting.”

“ _You’re_ the maid.” Harry says, smirking. “ _You_ clean it up.” 

“Speaking of cleaning up,” Zayn says, “we should go take a shower or something.”

Louis lets out an exaggerated groan. “But I don’t wanna move.” He whines.

“Jesus, Malik!” Harry says, laughing. “Where the hell did you pick this one up?”

Louis sticks his tongue out at Harry, and Zayn gently moves Louis off of him--to Louis’ protests--and stands up, walking to the bathroom. “Last one there gets no hot water!” He sings.

Harry sighs defeatedly and rolls off the bed, standing up, while Louis literally rolls _off_ the bed by accident--causing Harry to start cracking up--before swearing and standing up, his legs a bit wobbly.

“Shut up!” Louis says, wincing as he walks over to the bathroom. “This is all your fault.”

“You’re welcome.” Harry replies, winking as he steps into the shower after Louis.

 

The three boys are too tired to do much else but take turns standing under the water, so that’s just what they do, lazily kissing each other once in a while. Once they’ve dried off and made their way back into the bedroom, Louis crinkles his nose disapprovingly.

“We should change the sheets,” he says, and so they do. 

 Louis is the first to fall asleep, though, crawling onto the bed as soon as a new fitted sheet is put on, curling himself up into a ball, and muttering a soft goodnight.

 

\------------

 

Zayn wakes up to a weird buzzing sound. At first he has some trouble placing it, but then he realizes that it’s Louis’ phone, buried deep underneath the pile of forgotten clothes strewn across the floor. 

 

“Louis,” he groans, his voice quiet. “Get your damn phone.”

Louis stirs and sighs. “No, _you_ get my damn phone.” He opens his eyes and sees an amused Zayn. “Please?” He continues, pouting.

Zayn rolls his eyes and ruffles Louis’ hair, chuckling at the boy’s protests, and makes his way over to Louis’ abandoned slacks, searching through them till he finds the phone, still buzzing. He checks the caller ID. “Liam,” he reads out loud, vaguely recollecting the boy from the party. Louis grunts in approval, so Zayn answers the phone, putting the call on speaker.

 

“Hello?”

“Where have you been, you _wanker_?!?” Liam yells, so loud that even Harry wakes up, confused and shocked.

“Um…”

“I’ve been calling you nonstop for almost a whole _two_ _hours_. I thought something had happened to you! Where have you _been_?!”

Zayn smiles, tossing the phone to Louis. “For you.” He mouths, and Louis groans. 

“Louis. Answer me. _Answer me, you little_ \--”

“Liam!” Louis says, sitting up, his voice bright and cheery, and Zayn’s impressed at his acting skills. “What’s up, mate?”

“What’s up? _What’s up?!_ ”

“Me? Oh, not too much, y’know. Bit of cleaning, this and that. How about you?” Louis replies, winking at a smiling Harry.

“I’m going to _kill_ you, I swear.”

“Christ, Liam, what time is it?” 

“It’s almost 3 o’clock, you dick.”

“Oops.” Louis says, biting his lip. “Sorry.”

He can hear Liam sigh, probably giving up at being mad at him. “Where are you? I’ll come pick you up.”

“I’m, uh--” Louis panics, looking at Zayn, who just smirks, shrugs, and takes the phone before Louis can protest.

 

“Liam!” Zayn says, in a voice almost as bubbly as Louis’ had been. “What’s up, mate?”

Harry starts giggling now and pulls Louis back down onto the bed, tucking his head into the older boy’s neck and throwing his leg possessively over Louis’ thighs as he wraps his arm tightly around Louis’ waist.

“Uh...who is this?” Liam replies hesitantly.

“Zayn! You remember me, from the party, right?”

“Zayn?” Liam repeats, shocked.

“Yeah, mate! Okay, so, listen, Louis got a little, uh, caught up in the mess here, you know what it was like this weekend, right?”

“Oh. Uh, yeah, but, um, you can’t really keep him there for longer than his hours, it’s sort of against our policies and--”

“Policies, shmolicies. It’s fine as long as he agrees to it, right?”

“Uh...I guess?”

“Good, good. I--”

“Let me hear him say it.” Liam suddenly says, his voice tinged with suspicion.

“What?”

“Give the phone to Louis.” Liam’s voice is commanding, so much so that Zayn automatically turns off the speakerphone and hands the phone back to Louis.

 

\------------

 

“Liam!” Louis says happily, shifting a bit as Zayn’s eyes begin to rake up and down his body. “What’s up, mate?” 

Harry lets out a loud laugh and Louis pats his head. 

“Fuck. You’re all right, right, Louis?”

“Um...yes?”

“No, I mean. You sound happy, but they’re not--like--forcing you to do anything, are they? Forcing you to say anything?”

“...what?”

“Listen, I know you’re into these boys, but who knows what they’re really like? You’re not, like, bound or gagged or hurt or anything, right?”

Louis is quiet, so Liam continues. “I know Zayn lied about you staying there to clean.” He says quietly.

Louis is expressionless for a moment, and then bursts into giggles. “ _Liam_! Oh my _god_!”

“What?” Liam says, clearly confused.

“Do you seriously think they’ve kept me here like...like a _sex slave_ or something?!” Louis says, laughing at Zayn’s amused expression. 

Louis can practically feel Liam’s blush through the phone, and he knows he hit the nail on the head. “You don’t even know these boys, and...and I don’t either and I just assumed the worst because I knew you’d sleep with them if you were given the chance and I didn’t want you to take it too far, I’d hoped you’d known when to say “no” and I just...shit, I’m _sorry_ , okay?!”

“Aww, babe!” Louis croons. “I’m fine, I’m fine, I just fell asleep! Thank you for worrying. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Liam sighs again. “Do...do you still need me to pick you up or…?”

“Oh. Uh, yeah, probably, if you could. That’d be nice.”

“I can be there in like, 30 minutes?”

It’s Louis’ turn to sigh, since the last thing he wants is to get out of this bed, but he accepts Liam’s offer and hangs up, dropping his phone onto the bed. 

 

“Liam’s going to be here in a half hour.” He says, closing his eyes and stretching himself out. “I should probably get ready.”

“Okay.” Harry replies, but doesn’t change his position, still wrapped around Louis. When Louis looks to Zayn, he finds that the other boy is still eyeing his body admiringly, not really paying attention to what anyone is saying.

“Well, _you’re_ no help.” Louis concludes, pouting, and tries to pry Harry’s limbs off of him, but the younger boy doesn’t budge. Louis looks down at Harry and sees a mischievous gleam in his eyes. He looks back up to Zayn and sees the same gleam reflected in his gaze and. _Fuck_.

 

“You know,” Zayn begins, pressing his hand onto Louis’ chest and slowly snaking it downwards, “thirty minutes is an awfully long time.”

Harry lets out a small murmur of agreement, turning his head so he can nip at Louis’ earlobe.

Zayn’s hand is on Louis’ cock now, strong and sure, and he’s pressing down hard. Louis hisses at the pressure and tries to push Zayn’s hands away, but Harry’s arm pins him down.

“Sex slave…” He hears Harry say. “I kind of like that.”

“I swear to god, if you even think about tying me up to anything, I will--” 

Louis’ threat is broken off by a rough kiss from Zayn, who works his tongue into Louis’ mouth easily. Zayn finally stops pushing down onto Louis, who’s half-hard by now, and swallows the sigh that escapes Louis’ lips. 

He kisses down Louis’ throat, stopping when his nose bumps into Harry’s.

“Hi,” he says quietly, pulling Harry into a kiss. Harry loosens his grip on Louis and wraps his arms around the familiar frame of Zayn, pushing into the kiss.

Louis squirms until he’s out of Harry’s grasp and then scrambles towards the edge of the bed, but he’s stopped when Zayn’s hand shoots out and grabs his forearm. 

“You’re not getting away that easily, babe.” He mumbles, his mouth still on Harry’s, and pulls a sighing Louis back towards them.

 

Zayn breaks off from Harry, who lets out a sad whimper, and pushes Louis onto his back. He gets on his knees and pulls Harry up so that he mirrors Zayn’s position on the other side of Louis. Harry pulls Zayn into another kiss and the other boy obliges, his arms wrapping around Harry’s shoulders.

At this angle, Louis can see _everything_ , which he’s sure is Zayn’s intention. He watches the two boys kiss and feels his cock twitch, so he reaches down, but his hand is stopped by Zayn’s again.

“No.” Zayn says, looking down at Louis, an evil smile on his face. “Don’t touch yourself. Touch _us_.”

Louis stares up at him blankly until he realizes what Zayn means. The two boys’ erections are now bobbing right over his chest, and Louis wonders how he managed to miss that.

He licks his lips and slowly wraps a hand around the base of each cock, pulling his hand forward until he reaches their tips, making both Harry and Zayn moan into their kiss. Louis rubs his thumbs over the tops of their penises and slowly begins pumping up and down their erections, feeling himself get even harder as Harry and Zayn continue to make noises that should probably be outlawed because, _shit_ , they’re so fucking hot.

He jacks them off at the same rhythm, keeping them in sync as they both start to thrust into his fists at the same time. He twists his hands as they push, and looks up to see that the two have broken apart, no longer wrapped in a kiss. Instead, they’re leaning on each other, eyes dark with lust, both staring down hungrily at Louis. 

Louis shifts uncomfortably as his erection throbs, but it doesn’t get past Harry, who smirks and reaches a hand down to Louis’ cock, ghosting over it with his fingers. Louis moans and tightens his grip on the other two boys, pulling faster and eliciting gasps from Harry and Zayn. 

“ _Shit_ , Louis,” Zayn manages to breathe out right before he comes, spilling across Louis’ collarbones. Harry follows soon after, letting out a sigh of relief. 

 

“I’m going to get really toned forearms because of you two.” Louis quips, rubbing his aching wrists. Zayn snorts as he grabs a handful of tissues to clean Louis’ chest. Louis lets out a tired exhale as he prepares to get up, but falls right back down when he feels Harry’s hand wrap around his dick.

“Now, Zayn,” Harry begins, sending the boy a stern look, “we can’t possibly let Louis leave like this. He would be so--” Harry pauses, leaning down so his mouth is right above the tip of Louis’ cock, “--uncomfortable,” he whispers loudly, his breath hot.

Louis whimpers, bucking his hips up, but Harry just presses him down, slowly dragging a tongue across the tip of Louis’ erection. He takes it into his mouth, circling his tongue around. Zayn lies down next to Louis and slowly kisses his neck, then his jaw, and finally, his lips. He drags Louis into a kiss, slow and torturous, forcing the boy to be quiet as Harry takes all of Louis into his mouth.

Louis’ eyelids flutter and he doesn’t understand how he’s even conscious right now, with Zayn’s tongue massaging his own and Harry’s tongue making its way up and down his cock. It’s almost unbearable and Louis comes too soon, his cheeks heating up with both embarrassment and pleasure. He lies there, face pink and mouth open slightly, trying to catch his breath as he feels two pairs of hands snake up and down his body.

 

“You should clean for us more often, Louis.” Harry says, his lips biting a bruise onto Louis’ hips.

“Mmm...yeah, okay,” Louis says, dazed, and smiles when he hears the other two boys laugh. “I should really put my clothes on now, y’know.”

“Such a killjoy.” Harry says as Louis struggles to get up, still reeling from his orgasm. Louis sticks his tongue out and takes Zayn’s outstretched hands, allowing the other boy to pull him up. 

 

“Fuck.” Louis says, picking through the pile of clothing on the ground. “Where the hell is my underwear?”

 

\------------

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what's this?  
>  _no_ cliffhanger?!?!?


	7. Chapter 6

\------------

 

“...sooo…?” Liam enquires, his eyebrows raising as Louis sits down.

Louis rolls his eyes and grabs a slice of the pizza in front of them. It’s too hot when he bites into it, but he winces and swallows the food anyways, clearing his throat. “So what?”

“Give us the dirty details, man!” Niall cries, slapping Louis on the back as he joins the table.

Louis swats Niall's hand away, scowling. "Nothing's going on. Everything's cool. Why?"

Niall raises his eyebrow. "Uh, Louis. You're sleeping with _two_ guys. Who, as far as we know, are in a _relationship_. With each _other_. Does this not disturb you even a little bit?"

Louis shrugs. "Not really. I like them, they like me. Simple as that, right?"

Liam looks concerned for a moment and clears his throat. "I don't think it's that simple, Louis." He says, placing a hand on the other boy's shoulder. "Do...do they know how you feel about this arrangement? Because we both know you're not just in it for a fuck."

Louis groans and covers his face with his hands. "I love them. I _adore_ them. I've been a fan of them forever. It's a fucking dream come true."

"...and?" Liam says, urging Louis to continue. 

"...and they probably just think of me as a friend." Louis admits, frowning.

"With _benefits_." Niall chimes in, crying out in pain when Liam punches him hard in the arm. 

"With benefits." Louis repeats, sighing, picking at his now room-temperature pizza. "I mean, I know they like having me around, and I know Zayn was sad when he thought I didn't want to be with them..."

"So...do you think they like you the way you like them?"

Louis shrugs again. "Who knows? This could be a thing of theirs. They could have a ton of other friends with benefits on speed dial."

Liam rubs Louis' shoulder encouragingly. "You need to tell them, Louis. Before this spirals into something that even you can't get out of. Otherwise, someone's heart is going to get broken. And you know that it's probably going to be yours."

Louis nods solemnly, mindlessly chewing through his food, and he knows Liam's right. Zayn and Harry have been together since probably the beginning of time especially considering that they actually grew up together. Louis is just a guy--no, a _maid_ \--they've only known for a few weeks. Who the hell is he to interfere in their relationship?

 

Louis has almost forgotten about Niall and Liam until the former lightly slaps his face. "Wake up!" he says. "What're you lot up to tonight?"

Louis looks at Liam questioningly, but the other boy rolls his eyes. “It’s a Monday night, Niall.”

“So what?” The Irish boy replies, jumping up. “We’re three grown men! Three _single_ grown men! We should be tearing up the town, no matter what night it is!”

“Erm...actually,” Liam starts, blushing slightly, “I’m, uh, not so...single?” He states, almost phrasing it as a question, and glances at Louis.

Louis' eyes widen. "What?!" he cries out, looking over to Niall, who's smiling but just as surprised as Louis. 

"Details, man, details!" Niall says, sitting back down, a stupid grin on his face. 

"Well, uh, Danielle and I, we, uh, hung out a couple times last week. Like...dates and stuff, I guess. We just really get on well, y'know? So...we made it official. Or whatever." 

"Does she KNOW she's dating a maid?" Louis quips teasingly. 

"You're no better." Liam replies, frowning. "Luckily, she's not that small-minded. And she knows why I'm doing this job."

Louis smiles but then tilts his head, confused. "Wait. Why ARE you doing this job?" He asks, curious. 

 

Louis has known Liam for a while, and Liam never went to uni or any other level of higher schooling. In fact, Louis had only met the boy once he'd dropped out of school, and they'd become fast friends, but he didn't know much about Liam's past. 

"You used to work in an airplane factory or something, right?" Louis says, trying to recall the little bit he knew about Liam's younger years. "Then you moved here. Why'd you move here?"

Liam looks down. "I don't think I've, uh, ever told you two my dream job, have I?"

"We're all ears, man." Niall replies. 

"I...I've always wanted to be a firefighter." Liam says quickly, cheeks a bit flushed from embarrassment. 

And they should be, because as soon as the words come out of his mouth, Louis and Niall are in hysterics. 

"What?!" Louis says, struggling to breathe. "A _fireman_?"

"Yo, mate," Niall says, grinning wide, "do we get sexy shirtless calendars?"

"No! Ugh, you two are assholes." Liam says, exasperated. "I want to _help_ people. Be a good Samaritan."

"Yeah, Niall, don’t be such a prick!" Louis says, swinging an arm around Liam's shoulders. "The calendars are just a perk." He smirks, falling backwards onto the floor with Liam.

“I’m taking classes! I need this job to pay for the classes I have to take. Then I can quit. Which I will, I swear.”

“Shut up, Liam, you know you love those little half-aprons we have to wear.” Louis replies, smiling and shifting so that his head’s resting on Liam’s stomach. “But seriously, you can’t leave. I won’t let you.”

“And why’s that?”

“I’ll be all alone!” Louis pouts. “Who’s going to bring me coffee that’s too hot and drive me around to my jobs and deal with me being an utter asshole all the time?”

“Maybe you can ask Harry and Zayn,” Niall says, wiggling his eyebrows.

Louis frowns and throws his slice of pizza at Niall, who somehow manages to easily catch it in his mouth.

“Thanks,” he mumbles, mouth full, as Louis continues to glare at him. “Sorry.” He finishes.

Liam sits up, patting Louis’ forehead. “Promise me, though, Louis. Promise me you’ll have this relationship of yours defined so that you can have some peace of mind.”

“Hey, that rhymed!” Louis says halfheartedly, but sighs when he sees Liam’s gaze. “Okay, yeah, I will.”

 

\------------

 

Louis hasn’t made any move to talk to the boys, though, and has almost forgotten the whole situation until his phone chimes with a text alert on Sunday night.

 

_Thinking of you xx_

 

It’s from Zayn. Of course it is. And Louis can’t help but smile when he reads it, because this means that maybe, just maybe, Zayn cares about him. And he knows that where Zayn goes, Harry follows. He texts Zayn back.

 

_O really? ;)_

 

That sounds flirty enough, he thinks. Just as he sets his phone down, it rings again, and he checks Zayn’s newest message.

 

_Yeah, of your ass and your eyes and your skin and your ass_

_Shit, Louis, I want you so bad_

 

Louis’ heart falls. Oh. That’s what kind of conversation this is. He shakes himself out and takes a breath. Of course that’s the kind of conversation this is. Why would it be anything else? He’s just Zayn’s fuck buddy, that’s all. 

His phone chimes again.

 

_Come over?_

 

Louis sighs and replies quickly.

 

_I’m going to see you in less than 12 hours! If you’re home that is_

 

_I’ll make sure I am ;) xx_

 

Louis lets out a long groan and covers his face. No. This isn’t what he wants. This shouldn’t be happening, he shouldn’t let it happen like this. But it’s _Zayn_. And who in their right mind would walk way from that boy’s open arms?

 

\------------

 

As soon as Louis walks into Harry and Zayn’s apartment the next morning, two sets of hands push him against a wall and two pairs of lips caress every inch of skin they can find.

Louis is growling in no time, trying to break out of the hold the boys have got him in, but his efforts are worthless as Harry and Zayn only grip onto him tighter and kiss him harder. Finally, Harry breaks off Louis’ neck to look Louis in the eye.

“ _Fuck_ , we missed you.” He says, his voice a hoarse whisper, and Louis lets out a whimper at that, feeling himself start to harden. “C’mere.” 

Harry grabs Louis’ thighs and lifts him up and Louis automatically locks his ankles together around Harry’s waist, letting his hands explore the curls of Harry’s hair. Harry walks them over to the bedroom, and Louis looks over Harry’s shoulder to see Zayn, smirking with a pair of black slacks thrown over his shoulder.

Wait a minute. Those were _Louis_ ’ slacks. He looks down. Shit, when did they take his trousers off? 

He has to become more observant. He has to pay attention. He has to--he has to tell them, talk to them, explain everything to them. He opens his mouth to speak but is denied the chance to do so by Zayn’s tongue, which has managed to creep its way past Louis’ lips. Louis gives up and sighs. Fuck Liam. Talking can wait till later. Louis lets out a satisfied moan and falls back onto the bed, happily letting the other two boys have their way with him.

 

The rest of the morning is a blur, especially after the sex, and noon finds Louis naked but warm, tangled up in the sheets of Harry and Zayn’s bed. Zayn is sitting up, leaning against the headboard, propped up against a pillow. His hair’s down, a sight Louis’ never had the pleasure of being exposed to before, and he’s wearing glasses, actual fucking _glasses_. And he looks so _good_ in them.

But the most surprising thing of all is the reading material he’s got in his hands. Because after twisting his head up to get a better look, Louis notices that it’s not a gossip magazine like he’d first assumed--it’s a book. An actual fucking book. And it looks legit and everything. It’s a hardcover but the spine is cracked and the title is worn off, as if it’s been opened and closed a thousand times in the past. 

Zayn is frowning down at the book, biting his lower lip, a pen in his hand. He scribbles something on a page and then notices Louis’ movement, looking over at him and smiling.

“Hi.” He says, and Louis smiles back, confused. 

“You look good in glasses.” He says, reaching up to poke at the plastic frames on Zayn’s face.

“Thanks.” Zayn says, chuckling.

“You should wear them more often.”

Zayn frowns a bit at that, but then smiles again. “I don’t really get photographed in them. I don’t read much when I go out, y’know.”

“I didn’t know you read at all.” Louis turns a bit red at Zayn’s raised eyebrows. “For pleasure, I mean.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know about us, Louis.” Zayn says, putting his book down and stretching himself out. “Like, for instance, how Harry is practically a professional chef. He’s making us lunch right now.”

“Seriously? He never seemed that domesticated to me…”

Zayn chuckles and ruffles Louis’ hair. “C’mon, it’s time to eat.”

 

“Harry!” Louis cries, sitting on the table in a pair of the boy’s boxers. “Hurry up! We’re _hungry_!”

“Just a minute!” Harry yells back. “Fucking wankers,” he mutters.

“I heard that!”

“Good.” Harry says, smirking and walking out of the kitchen with a steaming pot of spaghetti in his hands. “Now move.”

Louis claps his hands excitedly and slides off the table. He reaches for a chair but Zayn pulls him into his lap instead.

“I can’t eat like this, Zayn.” Louis says, scrunching up his nose even though his stomach is full of butterflies at the way Zayn’s hands are caressing his waist.

“The man’s got his priorities straight,” Harry chimes in, smiling.

Louis winks at Harry and deftly gets out of Zayn’s grip, slipping into a chair beside him. Harry places a bowl of pasta in front of him and starts digging into his own, looking up every once in a while to smile at Zayn.

 

Louis looks in between the two of them, at how Zayn’s glasses are now nestled on top of his hair, at how Harry’s got a bit of pasta sauce at the corner of his mouth, and he can’t help but smile at the pair. 

And though it breaks his heart to come to terms with it, Louis then realizes that he knows almost nothing about these boys apart from what he’s read in magazines and what he’s watched in interviews. And who knows how much of that is made up?

He knows how it feels to kiss Harry, how it feels to tangle up his limbs with Zayn’s. He knows how to touch each of the boys so that they melt underneath him, begging for more.

But he doesn’t know what it’s like to hug either of them, to really reach out and grab their shoulders tight and hold them for long enough to let them understand that he’ll miss them when they go. He doesn’t know what it’s like to give them a chaste kiss on the cheek, just _because_. He doesn’t know what it’s like to buy them a bouquet of flowers because hey, they were on sale and he knows they like this color and he just wanted to see them smile.

 

But right now, right now Louis is sitting with them at their table, eating a _meal_ with them, laughing at their jokes and telling stories about his sisters, watching how Zayn’s eyes crinkle up when he smiles and how Harry’s tongue pokes out at him every time Louis looks at the boy for a little too long.

 

And that’s a start, right?

 

\------------


	8. Chapter 7

\------------

 

"So."

"So?"

Harry flops himself down on their bed, making Zayn frown as his pen bounces on the page he's scribbling on. 

"So." Harry repeats, looking up at the ceiling. "Louis is nice."

"Yeah...?" Zayn says, looking at Harry quizzically. He caps his pen and closes his book, setting them aside, and folds his palms in his lap. "Is there...something you want to talk about?"

Harry doesn't reply for a while, chewing on his lip in deep thought. 

 

"What are we doing?" He says finally, his gaze sliding over to Zayn. 

Zayn sighs and shrugs. "Having fun?" He suggests, putting on a weak smile. 

"Zayn. I love you. You know that. But stringing along this guy isn't something we should be doing. He should have been a one-and-done kind of thing."

"Are you going to try to tell me that _you_ don't enjoy having him around?"

Now Harry sighs defeatedly, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Fuck. I do, Zayn, and that's the point. It's _weird_. We're in a relationship and we invited someone in. Fine. Okay. That's been done before. But now we're getting so close to him and--fuck, I don't know what he thinks we're getting into. We shouldn't be trying to be friends with him. It's just awkward. Did you hear him at lunch on Monday? He was already telling us stories about his _sisters_ , Zayn!"

Zayn looks down at the sheets in his lap and plays with them, fully aware of Harry's eyes on him, awaiting a response. He doesn't reply for a solid five minutes. 

 

"I liked those stories." He says eventually.

"What?"

"I liked hearing about his sisters. Louis is fun, he's so sweet." Zayn continues, a smile slowly growing on his face. But as soon as he looks over to Harry, his smile drops, because Harry looks like someone's punched him in the gut. 

"Do you...do you actually have, like, _real_ feelings for him?" Harry manages to spit out, and Zayn can tell that he's getting angry or jealous or _something_ , because he's looking down at the bed and his hands are clenched into fists, his knuckles turning white. 

"Hazza--" Zayn begins, reaching a hand out.

"No." Harry says. "That's not how it works, Zayn. This is not how _we_ work. No feelings involved. Those were our terms. That was--you promised me that much."

Zayn groans, leaning back so his head hits the headboard with a _thud_. 

"Why is this so hard for you? You're Zayn. The hump-and-dump guy." Harry spits bitterly. "At least, that's who you're supposed to be."

"What if I don't _want_ to be that guy anymore, Harry?"

"You're realizing this now? Because of one guy you _just_ met?"

"No. I've been realizing this since the day I didn't want to party anymore but everyone else either expected me to or forced me to. People don't take me seriously, Haz, they don't take _you_ seriously either. To them, we're not intellectuals or people with actual hobbies. We're a couple of drunk, worthless, socialite heirs who're going to O.D. by the time we're 35. And I'm sick of it." 

 

Zayn sits up straight now, looking down at his hands, where he's got small notes written down in blue and black ink. "Do you know what Louis said to me? He said that he didn't know I liked to read. He didn't even know I wore _glasses_. Shit, I've been wearing them since I was a little kid." Zayn looks up at Harry. "He didn't know you could cook, or that you even liked to cook. And he--he's a _huge_ fan of us. Which only shows you how little of our real selves are shown to the world. I'm tired of it, Harry, so tired of it all. And I love you, so much, so, _so_ , much, but...Louis is something different. He's something new. He's the first outsider I'm not afraid to be myself around. He...he makes me want to change. He cares so much about so many little things that we've never had to think or worry about, and it's beautiful.” He pauses, sighing. “Look. You know how I feel about you, Harry. It'll never change. But...is it so wrong if I'm starting to like Louis that way too?" Zayn finishes, looking at Harry. 

 

Harry's glare is cold and his voice sharp. "You want society to accept us? You want them to think of us as normal people? Well then try explaining three men in a relationship. Yeah, that's pretty fucking normal." Harry spits, gets off the bed and begins pulling clothes on. 

"Harry, stop."

"No. _you_ stop. Stop and think about how much we gave up--how much _I_ gave up--to be a couple. And then let me know if you still like Louis. And if you do, fine. Enjoy him. Enjoy your new fucking intellectual, spectacled life." Harry says, shrugging on a jacket. "But don't expect me to be a part of it."

 

Harry walks out of the bedroom, but Zayn's not far behind, stopping him at the front door.

"Where are you going?"

"Where any drunk, worthless, socialite heir who’s going to O.D. by the time he’s 35 goes." Harry snaps, and then pushes Zayn aside to walk out of the apartment. He hesitates for a second. 

"You know," he starts, his voice low. " _I_ used to be new. _I_ used to make things beautiful. _I_ used to make you want to change." He turns and looks back at Zayn. "Sorry to see I'm not really necessary anymore."

 

Harry slams the door shut, and then everything's quiet.

 

\------------

 

“ _Shots, shots, shotsshotsshots, shots, shots, shotsshotsshots_ ,” Niall yells, fist pumping along to the blaring bass of the music in the bar.

Louis is sitting at the bar with Liam, laughing so hard he’s crying, and though Louis can tell Liam doesn’t really want to be here, the boy’s smiling as well.

Niall skips back to the bar. “Hey guys!” He yells drunkenly, his expression bright. “I just had the _best_ idea.”

Louis glances at Liam, who’s as amused by this as he his, and replies back, “What is it, Nialler?”

“Let’s do some shots!” Niall says, hopping up and down.

“Gee, I wonder where you got _that_ idea?” Louis replies, smirking, but allows Niall to bring over a tray of small glasses filled with liquor of all colors. “You going to join us, Liam?” Louis asks, although he knows what Liam’s response is going to be even before the boy shakes his head no.

“You two enjoy yourselves.” Liam says. “You’re going to need _someone_ to get your drunk asses home.”

“Excuse you, my ass is glorious both drunk _and_ sober.” Louis retorts, grabbing a glass filled with a bright blue liquid. He turns to Niall. “What should we toast to?”

“Your ass!” Niall replies, laughing, his cheeks red.

Louis raises his glass. “To my ass!” He yells, and downs the shot, shuddering as it burns his throat. “Shit.”

“More, more!” Niall cries, taking a shot and pulling a face as if he’s eating a lemon for the first time.

Louis takes another shot, a pink one this time, and doesn’t even bother to toast to anything before he gulps it down. He shakes himself out but he can feel the shots mixing with the few beers he’s already downed and the familiar tingle is enough to get him to reach for the shot Niall’s handing him right then.

 

A half hour and several shots later, Louis is in the middle of the dance floor, grinding up against what must be five different people around him. He spots a girl with short brown curly hair and pulls her close, wrapping his arms around her waist.

“You remind me of this boy I know,” he says, giggling. “Wanna dance?”

The girl smiles back, and even though her lips aren’t as pink or full and there’re no dimples in her cheeks, Louis sees enough of Harry in her to grab onto her tighter.

“Thanks, love,” the girl replies. “I’m flattered, but, uh, I don’t play for your team.”

Louis laughs loudly and starts moving his hips to the music. “That’s okay. I don’t play for your team either.”

The girl’s eyes crinkle in amusement. “Okay, then, babe, lead the way.”

 

\------------

 

Harry doesn’t know how he got into this bar. He doesn’t know which direction he turned after walking out of his apartment. He doesn’t know anybody else here. But worst of all, he doesn’t know what the fuck is going on.

He loves Zayn. Zayn loves him. That was what it used to be, and it was perfect. And when Zayn wanted to let Louis in for some fun, even Harry couldn’t deny that Louis was attractive. So he said yes. But he remembers holding Zayn still and making him promise that this wouldn’t change anything. 

And Zayn had assured him that it wouldn’t. 

The worst part of all of this is, Harry doesn’t know what’s eating him up inside, what made him leave his flat, what is making him loathe Louis so much. Because even Harry likes Louis. He likes the way Louis walks and how he gets all red and embarrassed and how it’s really fucking cute. He likes Louis’ eyes and soft hair and fuck, even the way he talks, his voice so high and perfect.

Harry doesn’t know if it’s the alcohol or if he’s just mental, but he can swear he hears the voice even now, coming from behind him, tinkling over the thudding bass of some stupid pop song. So he listens.

 

“So tell me more about my doppelganger.” A voice enquires. High, but not Louis’. Probably some girl.

Then there’s a giggle, and Harry immediately places it as Louis’ laugh. He freezes. Fuck. 

“Um...Harry’s tall. Like you. And curly. Like you. But he has dimples...” Louis says, sighing.

“Aww, hun, I’m sorry to disappoint.” The girl replies.

“S’okay.” Louis says, and by now Harry can tell that the boy’s properly wasted. “He doesn’t even like me that way…” Harry tilts his head. What? “...and neither does his boyfriend.”

There’s a pause as this new piece of information sinks in, but the girl plays it off like it’s nothing. Harry gives her her props. “They don’t like _you_? Look at you! You’re a right catch!”

“They like my ass, I think. And the sex is good. That’s what counts, right?” Louis slurs.

“Amen.”

Harry stops listening for a moment to think about what he’s just heard. Does Louis really think that he doesn’t like him that way? That _Zayn_ doesn’t like him that way?

 

He’s in the middle of mulling over all this when he feels a hand slowly run through his hair. 

“Christ, is there a Harry lookalike contest at this bar or something?” He hears Louis say, and though he wants himself to freeze up again and push Louis’ arm off, he relaxes into the touch, leaning his head back when Louis starts to gently scratch his scalp.

“That feels good.” He feels himself saying, then sits up straight when he realizes what he’s done.

“...Harry?” He hears Louis say, quietly, then louder at first. “Oh my god, look, look, it’s him! It’s Harry!”

Harry sighs and slowly turns around, a polite smile on his face. His breath catches when he sees Louis because fuck, he looks just as good as ever. He’s in a loose-fitting white tee and tight, tight red pants, his hair perfectly messy and his cheeks rosy. His eyes are sparkling and his hand is still tangled in Harry’s curls. 

Harry looks over to the girl and is only somewhat annoyed that they do have similar haircuts, but he shakes it off to offer a hand to her.

“Hi. I’m Harry. Your...uh, lookalike?” He says, still smiling.

The girl does a double take when she recognizes him, but then slowly shakes his hand, her eyes going back and forth from Louis to Harry.

“Harry as in...Harry _Styles_?” She says, her voice almost a whisper, but Harry nods his head, shrugging. “Oh.” She replies. “I guess I’ll...give you two your space then? Um...nice to meet you, Harry.” She turns to Louis. “Call me sometime, asshole.”

“Will do, babe.” Louis says, giggling as he gives her a hug.

As soon as she’s dissolved into the crowd, Louis turns to Harry, smiling wide. “I don’t even remember what her name is. I don’t think she told me. Whoops!” He says, bringing his hand out of Harry’s hair and flinging it over his shoulder. “So how are _you_?”

 

Harry wants nothing more than to push Louis away, to watch his smile disintegrate as Harry walks out the bar. He never wants to see Louis again, never wants to feel him again, never wants to have to hear him speak.

But it’s as if he automatically pushes all that away when he brings his arm down around Louis’ waist. 

“Obviously not as good as you.” He replies, smiling wide enough so that he can see Louis’ eyes flicker over his dimples. He catches Louis licking his lips, and then Louis leans in, lips at Harry’s ear. 

“Do you want me to blow you in the bathroom?” He whispers, gently nipping Harry’s earlobe.

And part of Harry does want him to. Part of Harry wants to grab onto Louis’ hair and fuck his mouth till his throat hurts, till Louis has got tears in the corners of his eyes, till Louis wakes up tomorrow with a sore jaw and a hoarse voice. But he knows he can’t.

 

“Nah. Why don’t we just...um, talk?” He suggests, pulling Louis onto the barstool next to his. 

Louis pulls back, obviously surprised, his hands dropping from Harry. “You don’t--wait, do I not look good or something? Did I do something wrong?” He asks, voice rising a bit, and it looks like he’s about to cry or something, shit.

“No! No, no.” Harry says, putting a hand on his shoulder, steadying him. “You look fine, Louis. I’m just not...I’d rather talk, to be honest.”

“...about what?”

“Um...how about...Zayn?”

“What about Zayn?”

“You like him, right?”

“Are you a fucking idiot? Who in their right mind _wouldn’t_ like Zayn?”

Harry has to admit Louis has got a point there. Zayn is practically everyone’s type. “But... _how_ do you like him?” Harry continues.

“He’s...nice. He’s got a good cock.”

Harry rolls his eyes. “Nothing sexual.”

Louis huffs. “Hmm. He has...nice eyes?”

“Yeah, he does.” Harry chuckles.

“He always has words written all over his hands, and I can never read what they say. He’s always writing too, which makes him seem all mysterious and whatnot, but I think he’s a lot deeper than what most people think, y’know?”

Harry nods silently, and Louis continues. “Sometimes he looks at me and I feel like he’s reading me like he reads his books, jotting notes down in his mind about me, about the things he can read on my face, my hands, everything.”

Harry lets out a surprised exhale. Louis is _spot on_. It took Harry _years_ to realize this about Zayn and Louis has done it in _days_. 

“Do you...are you only with us for the sex?” He asks quietly, hoping that Louis is too drunk too remember this conversation.

“The sex is good. Sex is always good. Any sex is good.” Louis mumbles, leaning his head over onto Harry’s shoulder. “But sometimes I just want to talk to you two.”

“About what?”

“About...life. About your families. About the weather. About...anything.”

“Oh?”

“I want to buy you two flowers. Just ‘cause. I want to take pictures of stupid things and hang them up in your flat because it’s so damn _empty_ that it makes me sad sometimes. I want to take your extra bedroom and make it into a study, so that Zayn can write all the time, whenever he wants, and he doesn’t have to use his hands. I want to get you two a dog or a cat or something because it would be the most fucking adorable thing in the world.” Louis looks up to Harry, a small smile on his face. “I just want you two to be happy. I make you happy, right, Harry? You and Zayn?” 

And Harry’s heart breaks right then and there, because he can see how genuine Louis is being right now. No one has ever said anything like this to him before, and he wants to cry and laugh and hug Louis, all at the same time, but he just bites his lip to hold back a smile and nods.

“Yes, Louis, you do. You really, really do.”

“Good.” Louis says, yawning, as he tucks his head into Harry’s neck. “Please be happy with me.” He mutters, and Harry can’t help but lean down and kiss the tip of his nose. He closes his eyes and sighs.

 

“Louis?” Harry suddenly hears a voice call, and then Liam is in front of them, looking a bit taken aback. “Oh. Harry.” Liam says, surprised.

“Hey, uh, Liam, right?”

Liam smiles. “Yeah. Uh…”

“Oh! Yeah, I think this one fell asleep on me.”

“Bummer.” Liam says. “It’s a hell of a job to wake him up.”

“I don’t mind.” Harry says. “Could you, uh...do you know where he lives?”

“Yeah! Oh, yeah, of course! C’mon, I’ll drive us back. Niall’s getting a bit _too_ Irish right now, anyways.”

Harry looks over Liam’s shoulder to see the red-cheeked blonde boy he vaguely remembers from the party at the other end of the bar, standing on a counter, preparing to do what seems to Harry like a very stupid stunt. 

“Ugh. One sec.” Liam says, dashing over to Niall.

“ _Geronimo_!” Niall shouts to a cheering crowd, preparing to jump off the bar. But Liam grabs his calves before he can move and pulls Niall down over his shoulder, walking back to Harry, rolling his eyes at the Irishman’s insults.

“Let’s go.” He says, walking out of the bar.

Harry looks down at Louis and contemplates walking him out before reaching down to place his hand underneath Louis’ knees to lift him up so that he’s carrying Louis out. The boy is cradled in his arms and he fits so perfectly into Harry that it practically takes Harry’s breath away.

 

By the time they reach Louis’ apartment, both Louis and Niall are snoring away in the backseat of the car. Liam parks outside and hesitates for a moment.

“Do you--uh, do you want to take him upstairs?” He asks. “I can let Niall stay at my place for the night.”

“No, it’s fine, I don’t plan on...uh...doing anything.” Harry says, his cheeks reddening a bit. “I was just going to tuck him into bed or whatever.”

“Yeah, but, y’know, the whole ‘one mattress’ situation, so..”

Harry looks at Liam, confused. “Wait, what?” He asks.

Liam looks back at Harry, amused. “You didn’t know? These two share a mattress. That place is like as big as your living room.”

Harry turns around to look at the two sleeping boys leaning against each other, shocked. “Oh, I didn’t know they were…I mean, I thought they were just roommates?”

“Oh, no! I mean, yes, they are,” Liam says, laughing. “Niall’s as straight as they come, mate, Louis just, y’know, needed a place to live after he left uni, and Niall took him in, and then I got him the Minute Maids job, so--”

“Wait, Louis left school? Like...dropped out?”

Liam cocks his head to the side, giving Harry a look so deep that Harry physically shrinks back a bit. “You really don’t know too much about him, do you?”

“Uh,” Harry starts, feeling a bit defensive. “I know that he has four sisters? And that he’s from Doncaster. And that his parents are divorced? He mentioned it at lunch the other day.”

Liam nods in agreement. “Yeah, Louis has had a pretty rough life for some time. He...he definitely had his lows for a while, but he’s been able to get out of it, thankfully. He’s obsessed with you and Zayn, you know that, right?”

Harry smiles, blushing a bit. “Uh, yeah, so I’ve heard.”

Liam laughs. “This is literally a dream come true for him, y’know? Being able to be friends with you two, let alone to have...y’know, relations with you guys.”

Harry’s eyes widen. “Wait, you _know_?”

Liam snorts. “Are you kidding me? Louis is a fucking open book. He would’ve gone into detail if I hadn’t stopped him.” He looks at Harry, confused. “Weren’t you there for the whole ‘sex slave’ incident?”

“Shit, yeah,” Harry replies. “I just...I didn’t know he actually told you everything.”

“Oh. Well, yeah, he did. And I hate to have to do this, but you do know that I don’t care how famous you and Zayn are, I will personally kick both of your asses if you do anything to hurt him.”

Harry looks at Liam, and even in the low light he can make out Liam’s chiseled physique, and has no doubts that the boy could do some major damage if he tried. “Understood.” Harry says, smiling. “I guess I should take him up now.”

“Yeah, good idea.” Liam says, handing Harry the key. “We’re off tomorrow, thank god, so you don’t have to set an alarm or anything.”

“Oh, yeah, I’ll, uh...probably be staying the night?”

“I assumed as much. Just give me call when you leave tomorrow? My number’s on his phone.”

“Yeah, of course.” Harry says, opening his door. “Um...thanks, by the way.”

Liam shrugs and smiles. “Just being a good friend.”

Harry grins back, and then gets out and opens the back door. “Louis,” he says, gently shaking the boy.

“Mmm, I don’t wanna,” the boy mumbles, and Liam laughs.

“It’s not that easy, mate, remember?”

Harry sighs and reaches under Louis, gently picking him up like he’d done before. He kicks the door closed and gives Liam as much of a wave as he can with Louis in his arms. He watches the car drive off, and then somehow maneuvers his way into the apartment building. 

 

He’s surprised when he enters Louis’ (well, Niall’s) apartment, to say the least. It’s a right mess, with clothes and books and assorted knick-knacks thrown everywhere, but Harry can see what Liam meant when he mentioned the size of the place.

He opens the only other door in the place and steps into a small room, with a large mattress on the floor and more random items crammed into all four corners.

He softly lays Louis down, and, after some consideration, removes his shoes, socks, and pants, so he’s left in just his shirt and underwear. Harry’s breath catches as Louis curls into a little ball, and he pulls a blanket over the boy, watching his features settle into a comfortable expression.

Harry walks back into the central area, which apparently also plays the part of the kitchen, dining room, living room, and smirks at the state of the place and the irony of Louis’ job.

He strolls over to a large window in the wall, and slides it open, looking out at the city around him, taking deep breaths and trying to process all of the information he’s been presented with over the course of the night. He stands there for about ten minutes, looking at nothing and thinking about everything, when he comes to the one conclusion he knows he’s been dreading.

He likes Louis. A lot. And probably in the same way Zayn does. 

 

And he’s a fucking idiot.

 

\------------

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!  
> Thanks so much for all the awesome comments and kudos! 
> 
> This is the second-to-last chapter. I'll upload the final chapter and epilogue on Thursday!


	9. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyyy guys :)
> 
> So, as you can probably tell, this is the last full chapter! Thanks so much for all your comments/kudos, it means so much! 
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed this! I'm uploading a prologue now as well.   
> Thanks again!

\------------

 

The first thing Louis sees when he wakes up is a mountain of brown curls. And it’s so unexpected that he wants to scream.

So he does.

Not that he doesn’t know who they belong to--I mean, Louis could pick out that hair in a crowd of hundreds. But he knows that he’s in _his_ bed in _his_ apartment and it isn’t even clean so what the hell is Harry Styles doing here?

 

Naturally, the first thing Harry does is jump about a foot in the air, limbs flailing, before landing on the mattress in the most awkward fashion possible.

“Jesus _Christ_ , Louis! What the fuck?!” Harry says, his voice rough from sleep, and Louis almost melts right then. 

“Uh... _you’re_ the one in my bed, so…”

Harry groans and drops his head back onto his pillow. “What time is it?”

Louis sits up and glances over at his alarm clock. “Like...noon-ish?”

“I don’t want to get up.” Harry says, rubbing his face with his hands.

“Then don’t.” Louis says. “Go back to sleep.”

“So that you can wake me up like that again? Uh, no thanks.”

“I only screamed because I wasn’t expecting to see you on my mattress!”

“You were too drunk for me to leave you alone for the night.”

“Oh. Okay. Wait, what?”

 

Harry looks over at Louis. “You don’t remember last night?” He asks, his voice a bit softer.

Shit. Harry looks so genuine, so open. Why can’t Louis remember last night? “Um...not really. I remember taking shots with Niall and dancing with some girl and then seeing quite a lot of your hair?”

Harry chuckles. “Close enough.”

“Um, Harry?”

“Yeah?”

“Did anything...uh, happen last night? Between us?”

“You’re still clothed, Louis. And so am I.”

Louis frowns. “So? That doesn’t mean anything. I’ve had sex fully clothed before.”

Harry’s eyebrows shoot up. “Really? Remind me to ask you about that story sometime.”

“Harry.”

“ _What_ , Louis?”

“I’m serious. What happened?”

Harry sighs. “Nothing, we just...talked.”

“Oh. That’s good, I guess.”

“You said that sometimes it’s all you want to do with us. Me and Zayn, I mean.”

Louis blushes. “Oh. Well what I meant was--”

“I know what you meant, Louis.” Harry says, cutting Louis off. “And I’m glad.”

Louis looks surprised. “Wait...really?”

“Yeah,” Harry says, shrugging. “Zayn and I, we…we both really like you, y’know?”

“... _really_?”

“Fuck, I’m the worst at being all romantic and shit. It’s Zayn’s forte.”

Louis smiles, biting his lower lip, and it’s probably the cutest thing Harry’s ever seen, and he can’t help but smile back.

“I’m glad, you know,” Louis begins, “because I was so afraid that you were only in it for the sex and I just...I didn’t know what to think about the whole thing.”

“Can I be honest with you?”

“Yeah, please.”

“I...I _thought_ I was only in it for the sex. And I thought Zayn was too.”

“...oh.”

 

“I just...Zayn and I have been through a lot together, right? He’s my rock, and I’m his. I never wanted to bring anyone else in for anything but sex, but then you showed up, with your ass and your hair and your eyes and and your voice,” Harry says, looking up at a smirking Louis, “and your smile and your stories and your heart and I swear, I almost lost it.”

“Is that…a _good_ thing?”

“I was jealous, Louis. Really jealous. But not because someone else liked Zayn, because _Zayn_ liked someone else. I was scared that he’d think they were better than me and want to get rid of me.” Harry finishes, chewing on his lip.

Louis frowns. “Harry, if that’s what you think I’m trying to do, or--or if it’s what you think is happening, then I can--”

“No! No, Louis,” Harry interrupts. “I was wrong. I was really wrong.” He smiles up at Louis. “You’re something new, you know? A breath of fresh air. Something neither Zayn nor I have ever experienced before. And I think we both really need you.”

Louis opens his mouth to say something, but he doesn’t know what to say, because he’s blushing so badly and Harry’s grinning up at him. So he doesn’t say anything. Instead, he leans down and ghosts his lips over Harry’s, barely brushing them together. He hears Harry hum in appreciation, so he leans even closer and actually presses their lips together.

For a moment, neither of them do anything.

Then Harry’s arms snake up around Louis’ shoulders and his hands tangle themselves into Louis’ hair. Louis’ tongue breaks past Harry’s lips and Harry moans deep into the kiss, pulling Louis down on him even tighter.

It’s Harry who breaks the kiss first, though, smiling up at a worried Louis.

“Oh. Uh, sorry.” Louis says, cheeks red. “Was that--um, too much too soon?”

Harry chuckles. “No, you’re good, don’t worry.” He says, and watches Louis exhale, relieved. “I just...I kind of got into, like, a fight? With Zayn? And it doesn’t feel, y’know, _fair_ for me to be doing this until I go apologize to him.”

Harry studies Louis’ confused expression for a moment before quietly adding, “The fight was about you.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“But thank you.”

 

Louis giggles. “Famous Harry Styles is in _my_ bed, kissing _me_ , and _I’m_ the one that gets thanks?”

“Shut up. Okay, now, I really have to pee, so point me to the bathroom, please?”

Louis solemnly points over to a small red bucket by the door, but falls back onto the mattress laughing when he sees Harry’s shocked expression.

“You’re an asshole.” Harry says, scowling.

“There’s only one other door in this room. I’ll give you three guesses where the bathroom is.” Louis replies, smirking.

Harry gets up, muttering something about where Louis can shove his guesses, and Louis laughs again, covering his face with his hands as he feels a blush work its way up his cheeks. 

How the hell did he get this lucky?

 

\------------

 

If Zayn hears another automated voice tell him that Harry’s not available at the moment, he’s going to throw his phone at the wall. 

He’s been calling Harry practically nonstop for the past 6 hours, after he’d downed a couple glasses of wine and cried himself to sleep.

What the hell is he supposed to do? He doesn’t know how Louis feels and he can’t let go of the one constant in his life. He takes a deep breath and calls Harry again, ready to hang up when he hears someone knock on the door. He sprints over comically fast, tripping over his sheets, and opens the door to find Harry.

Who looks perfectly fine.

 

Zayn knows what _he_ looks like. He caught himself in the mirror earlier in the day. He already has bags under his eyes and he just looks worn out. But not Harry.

Harry looks youthful, energetic, and though he’s not smiling, his eyes seem mysteriously happy.

“I’ve been calling you.” Is the first thing Zayn can think to say. He watches Harry furrow his brow and reach into his coat pocket, picking out his phone and pressing a couple buttons.

“Shit. It’s off.” Harry says, looking back up at Zayn. “Fuck, I’m so sorry, I would’ve picked up, I--”

“Come inside.” Zayn interrupts, moving aside so that Harry can walk in. He drops Harry’s phone to the ground and pushes off Harry’s jacket, wrapping his arms around Harry’s neck and kissing his jaw. “I’m sorry,” he whispers. “I’m stupid and I’m sorry and I’ve been an idiot.”

Zayn continues kissing up Harry’s jaw, making his way to his lips, when Harry pulls back and holds Zayn’s hands in his own. 

“No.” Harry says, and it’s literally the last thing Zayn expects him to say. So much so that his jaw drops in both shock and confusion and the only thing that keeps him from tripping over his own feet is Harry’s grip around him.

“No.” Harry repeats. “ _I’m_ stupid and _I’m_ sorry and _I’ve_ been an idiot. A complete and total dolt. An asshole. And I’m so, so, _so_ sorry.”

 

Zayn closes his mouth and then opens it again, but he can’t decide what to say, because Harry’s never been one to recover so quickly from a fight. Harry wants attention, he wants to be petted and appreciated, and that’s what Zayn was trying to do. Harry makes you feel guilty in the best way possible, makes you beg for forgiveness, even if he was a bit at fault.

It’s the absence of all that plus the new bounce in Harry’s step that makes Zayn narrow his eyes and clench his jaw.

 

“Who did you fuck last night?” He says quietly, and that causes Harry to blink in shock a few times.

“Um. No one?”

“Don’t fucking lie to me, Harry. I know you too damn well. You slept with someone last night. _Who?_ ”

“I slept _next_ to someone last night, does that count?”

Zayn pulls his hands out of Harry’s and watches the other boy suspiciously. “Something happened.”

Harry looks down at his feet. “I kissed someone this morning?”

 

It’s like Zayn’s been punched in the stomach. He’s so at a loss for words that all he can do is stare at Harry before he’s able to pull himself together.

“You fucking walk out on me for having _feelings_ for another guy, spewing all this bullshit about commitment and whatnot, and then you go and stick your tongue down someone else’s throat?!” He cries, his hands clenched into fists. “I didn’t get any sleep last night, Harry, can you tell? I was too busy feeling guilty, like I always do. But you looked like you slept pretty damn well, wrapped up in some fucker’s arms, huh?”

Harry says nothing, just stares at Zayn for a few seconds, his face expressionless. He blinks a few times, then clears his throat.

“So I ran into Louis last night.”

 

Oh. 

_Louis_.

Wait, _Louis_?!

“Hold up, wait, let me get this straight,” Zayn says. “You were at Louis’ place last night?”

Harry nods, and Zayn shakes his head. “ _Why_?”

“He was too drunk to put himself into bed. So, um, I did.”

“...and?”

“And that’s it.”

“And you let him kiss you?”

Harry looks up at Zayn. His eyes are focused now, and it looks like Harry’s matured at least ten years in the last few seconds. “A lot happened last night, Zayn. I learned a lot about me, a lot about us, and a lot about...about Louis.”

The more Zayn looks into Harry’s eyes, the looser his fists become, until his hands are open and he’s raising them to grip Harry’s face tight.

“I hate you. So much.”

And then he’s pressing his lips to Harry’s, and Harry is pushing back with just as much vigor. Both their tongues are battling for dominance, but it’s Zayn’s pent-up fury that ultimately allows him push Harry up against a wall and take control of the kiss.

“I’m so sorry,” Harry whispers when they break apart, kissing Zayn’s cheeks, then eyes, then forehead. “So, so, sorry, okay?”

Zayn just stares at him, his expression annoyed but amused. “What the hell even happened last night, Harry?”

 

\------------

 

Louis’ phone buzzes, and he sees a text from an unknown number.

 

_Come over._

 

That’s all it says, and Louis quickly types back a response.

 

_Uh, I think you have the wrong number?_

 

His phone buzzes soon after, and Louis chuckles after reading the text.

 

_No I don’t, you twat. Now COME OVER._

Louis finds the number, saves it, and smiles as he types in _Harry Styles_.

 

\------------

 

“I can’t believe I didn’t have your number yet.” Louis says to Harry when he opens the door. “You’d think that by now--”

“Shut up and get inside.” Harry says, rolling his eyes and grabbing Louis by the wrist, pulling him into the apartment.

Louis scowls at him and rubs his wrist. “That hurt!”

 

“Hi.” A voice says, and Louis turns to see Zayn, leaning against a wall with an amused expression. Louis knows he shouldn’t feel nervous, that his stomach shouldn’t be doing flips, but he can’t help but smile and bite his lip before he says, “Hi,” back.

“So.” Zayn says, walking over to Louis, “A little curly-haired birdie told me that you like me.”

“Maybe.” Louis says, throwing a look at Harry, who just rolls his eyes again. “So?”

“So,” Zayn repeats. “I might have to tell you that I like you back.”

“That’s unfortunate.” Louis says. “I’m a terrible person to like. I’m a college dropout, I have a sucky job with no real future, and I’m falling for two of the biggest saps in the world.”

“Really?” Zayn quips.

“Yeah. And get this: they’re _together_.”

Zayn lets out a low whistle. “That must really suck.”

“Tell me about it.”

Zayn walks closer to Louis, his smile getting wider with every step. “Any other things about you I should be afraid of?”

“Well, sometimes I snore. But, y’know, that could just be bec--”

 

Louis doesn’t have a chance to finish his sentence because Zayn’s brought their lips together, and unlike every other time Louis has done this with Zayn, they’re both smiling into the kiss, which sends a tingle down Louis’ spine. He brings his arms up around Zayn’s neck and pulls him closer, one hand running through his hair, the other slipping underneath his collar.

Zayn’s the one to break off the kiss, pulling himself away to rest his forehead on the other boy’s. “Fuck, Louis.” He breathes out.

“Good plan.” Louis mumbles, smiling.

“Boooo!” Harry cries. “That was _horrible_. Ugh, if you’re going to come on to my boyfriend, Louis, at least do it right!”

“I can’t hear anything you’re saying!” Louis says. “You’re too damn far away.”

“I _said_ ,” Harry repeats as he suddenly presses against Louis’ back, “if you’re going to come on to my _boyfriend_ ,” Harry emphasizes, slipping his hands up Louis’ shirt to pinch his nipple, “at least do it right.”

Louis moans happily, giggling when Harry slaps his ass. He pulls Zayn in for another kiss, laughing when Harry pulls him away so that he can turn Louis around to face him.

“We should finish what you started this morning.” He says, and kisses Louis hard, and Louis doesn’t let go until he absolutely can’t hold his breath for any longer. He pulls away, catching his breath, and Harry leans over his shoulder to give Zayn a small kiss.

“Hey.” Harry says.

“Hey.” Zayn replies, smiling.

“Guess what?”

“What?”

“I love you.” Harry replies, kissing Zayn again, and Louis bites his lip, smiling so hard his cheeks hurt. 

 

He’s still sandwiched in between the two boys when Harry pushes his hips forward, grinding right into Louis’ crotch, causing the older boy to gasp a bit and tighten his hold around Harry. 

Zayn picks up on Harry’s rhythm and grinds into Louis’ ass. The two alternate so Louis’ hips are pushed back and forth between theirs, and soon Louis is a blubbering mess, his legs shaking and arms tightening around Harry’s shoulders as he tries to keep himself standing upright.

“Fuck, you guys, I--shit, _please_.” Louis begs, sighing gratefully when Zayn peels him off of Harry and walks him over to the bedroom. Louis strips immediately, and by the time Harry joins Zayn in the bedroom, he’s naked and lying down with his legs spread open, hands rubbing his inner thighs. 

“ _Louis_ ,” Zayn says, and Louis looks up to see both Zayn and Harry wearing identical expressions of lust. He smiles, dragging his hands up across his chest and back down so that they’re resting on his stomach.

“I’m all yours.” He says, smirking.

 

Harry practically _growls_ and jumps onto the bed, straddling Louis and pinning his hands over his head, studying him.

“I wanna _ruin_ you.” He declares, and Zayn chuckles, nodding in reply. Louis bites his lip but nods as well, his hips automatically circling upwards. “Zayn?” Harry asks, and Zayn smiles, walking forward and kissing Louis. 

Harry shifts downwards, and grabs Louis’ waist, flipping him over. “On your knees.” He commands, and Louis whines but complies, watching Harry over his shoulder with a awestruck expression on his face. Harry smirks and makes a big show of licking his lips, and then sticks his thumb into his mouth, getting it wet before he brings it down to drag it slowly over Louis’ entrance. 

Louis’ breath hitches and his head drops down. Zayn’s sitting up in front of him, his hands gently carding through Louis’ hair, but his eyes dark. Louis bites his lip and leans forward a bit to unbutton Zayn’s trousers. Once he catches on, Zayn shimmies out of them fast enough and then Louis presses his mouth to the cloth of Zayn’s boxers, sucking on the shape of his fattening cock through the thin material.

Louis licks long stripes up the bulge, not pausing until he feels something hot and wet at his entrance. At first he thinks it’s just Harry’s fingers again, but when he feels Harry’s nose just below his tailbone, his whole body shudders with the realization of what’s happening.

“Harry…” he whispers, and the other boy moans into Louis’ hole, dragging his tongue over it and making Louis groan deeply. “Fuck.”

 

Zayn reaches down and runs his fingers through Louis’ hair, gently pulling him towards his cock, and Louis goes eagerly, tugging the waistband of his boxers down with his teeth until Zayn yanks it off, gripping the base of his dick. 

“Fuck, Louis, can I…?” He asks, biting his lip, and Louis nods at him, looking up through his eyelashes, and licks his lips, opening his mouth wide. 

Zayn’s breath hitches as he slowly drags the tip of his cock over Louis’ lips, and Louis’ tongue darts out to touch it, kitten licking the head until Zayn groans and pushes it past his lips. Louis takes it eagerly, swallowing almost all of Zayn’s length before he breathes through his nose and pulls off. Harry chooses that moment to stop watching Louis blow Zayn--or whatever he’s doing--and places his mouth back to Louis’ entrance, poking it with the tip of his tongue until Louis mewls around Zayn’s cock. 

Zayn’s breath hitches and he presses his length deeper into Louis’ mouth, so Louis swallows around him and pushes himself back onto Harry’s mouth. Harry continues pressing his tongue into Louis and pulling it out, breaking the rhythm every once in a while to trace his rim with his tongue. Louis is a shivering, sweating pile of bones by now, and his jaw aches from Zayn’s thrusts, but he takes it, swirling his tongue around the boy’s length until Zayn’s hand tightens in Louis’ hair and he gasps, emptying himself into Louis’ mouth.

Harry licks over Louis one more time and then slides in two spit-slick fingers without warning, crooking them up to nudge at Louis’ prostate, and then Louis is coming as well, his cock rubbing against the sheets. Harry grunts in approval and immediately flips Louis over.

 

Louis’ cheeks are flushed and he can feel how sweaty and sticky he is, but Harry doesn’t seem to give any care at all as he straddles Louis’ chest, pausing when his cock is at Louis’ lips. Louis opens his mouth, ready to swallow him down, but Harry doesn’t move any closer, instead just licking his own palm and jerking himself off intensely, coming after just a couple minutes, all over Louis’ face. 

Louis sighs and leans back, and he can feel the bed sink a bit as Harry lazily rolls off him and kisses his shoulder.

“Thanks.” He mumbles, and Louis chuckles until Zayn reappears, slowly licking Harry’s cum off Louis’ face.

“That’s gross.” Louis says. “Keep your tongue off my eye, please.”

Zayn kisses him in response, sucking his tongue in till Louis is breathless. 

“Thanks as well.” He says, smirking, and Louis rolls his eyes.

“How can I refuse a compliment with such proper grammar?” 

“C’mon, now, into the shower.”

“No, Zayn, I’m _tired_.”

“Harry?” Zayn calls, but Harry quietly hums as an answer, his head already tucked into Louis’ neck, eyes closed. Zayn sighs and slides into the bed. “You two are fucking disgusting.”

Louis just giggles.

 

\------------


	10. Epilogue

\------------

 

It doesn’t really hit Harry until about a month later, when he shuffles into the apartment with about ten grocery bags in one hand and hangs his keys up on the hooks in the wall. He drops the bags in the kitchen, hoping Zayn will just end up putting everything away, and walks into the living room, looking around.

It takes him a second to recognize the place as _his_ living room, though, and he wonders why until he notices the many photo frames on the walls and the colorful blankets and pillows thrown across the sofa. The coffee table’s got a pile of coasters and there’s quite a few Disney movies in the stack of DVDs under their TV. A vase of fresh flowers is sitting on one of the corner tables, spreading the soft scent of daisies around, and there’re a couple of dog-eared books in front of it.

There’s so much going on, so much that represents him and Zayn and _Louis_ and Harry thinks back to that day in the bar and what Louis said, how all he wanted was to fill up their lives and make them happy, and suddenly he can’t stop smiling.

 

He bites his lip as he makes his way over to Zayn’s study, where the other boy is frowning at his computer screen. Harry spins his chair around and kisses the crease in between Zayn’s eyebrows.

“You’ll get frown lines.” He says, and Zayn sticks his tongue out. Harry smirks and kisses him for real this time, slowly sucking his tongue until Zayn shivers and pushes Harry off.

“Stop,” he whines, pouting. “I have work to do.”

“ _Ugh_.” Harry groans, falling back into the plush armchair in the corner. “You’re no fun. Where’s Lou?”

“At work, I think. He should be back soon, actually.”

Harry pouts now. “There’s never anyone around to help with my boners.”

 

“What’s this about boners?” A voice cries, and Harry beams as Louis appears in the doorway. He looks a bit tired, but he’s still smiling. Harry and Zayn had insisted that Louis quit his job as soon as he’d moved into their place, but Louis had stubbornly refused, claiming that he was a grown man and that he wouldn’t be taking any financial favors from his boyfriends. He did cut his shifts down, at least.

Louis yawns and stretches his arms over his head so that his shirt rides up and his pants sag a bit, and Harry and Zayn raise their eyebrows simultaneously. 

He’s not wearing any underwear.

“...what?” Louis says, looking at the two of them, and Harry licks his lips. “Stop it. My briefs were tight and my pants were tight and I just wanted to feel, like, free, y’know?”

Harry chuckles. “C’mere,” he calls, motioning for the other boy, and Louis gives a small smile and walks over, stopping on the way to give Zayn a kiss. He settles himself down into Harry’s lap, his knees bracketing Harry’s hips, before he slowly licks into his mouth.

Harry lets out a sigh of relief and slips his hands underneath Louis’ shirt, rubbing up and down at the warm skin until Louis has all but melted into him.

“Hey,” he mumbles, breaking apart from the kiss, and Louis whines, attaching his mouth to Harry’s collarbone instead. “Louis.”

Louis sighs, exasperated. “What?”

“Ride me.” Harry answers, a grin on his face. He makes sure to say it loud enough for Zayn to hear, and Louis’ eyebrow quirks as he follows Harry’s gaze to the other boy. Zayn shifts in his seat but doesn’t look back at the other two, so Louis smirks delightedly as he catches on to Harry’s plan and turns back around. 

“Fuck, Harry, _yes_.” Louis moans, grinding down, and Harry’s never been more glad that Louis is just as mischievous as him. He grips Louis’ hips and grinds back just as enthusiastically, and then they’re both moaning, Zayn squirming more and more as time goes on. It’s just as Harry’s slipped a hand underneath Louis’ waistband to grip his hardening cock, eliciting a sharp gasp from Louis, that Zayn cracks, slamming his hands down on his keyboard.

“ _Fuck_!” He yells, standing up and pulling Louis off of Harry. He firmly attaches his mouth to Louis’, curling his tongue around the other boy’s and making a big show of it just for Harry. Harry’s a bit surprised but gets over it as soon as Zayn slides his hands down Louis’ pants to squeeze at his bum. His breath hitches and he unbuttons his pants, palming at his cock. Zayn looks over and frowns.

“No sex in the study.”

“But _Zayn_ ,” Harry whines, pulling his dick out and tugging at it a bit. Zayn’s eyes glaze over a bit at the sight but he shakes his head. 

“No. Bedroom.” He declares, grabbing Harry’s shoulder and pulling him up and out of the room behind himself and Louis. Harry sighs but follows obediently, loving how Zayn’s grip on him gets tighter as they get closer to their bedroom. 

 

Zayn shoves him and Louis onto the bed, grunting as he pushes down his own pants and pulls of his shirt. He stands there, naked, eyeing Harry and Louis for a minute, and  then sighs, annoyed.

“Well?” He asks, and Harry snorts before he looks over at Louis and sees him trying his hardest to hold back a laugh as well. When their eyes meet, the two of them instantly break down into giggles, and Zayn groans, walking over to the other side of the bed and flopping down face-first. “You two are the _worst_.” 

“Aww,” Louis says, sidling over next to Zayn. “You needed a break, babe.”

Zayn grunts and Harry scoots up so he’s alongside Louis. “You’ve been writing non-stop for, like, a week now. Louis and I are getting bored. We miss you.”

Zayn sighs and turns himself around, throwing the two boys a poker face before smiling a bit. “I miss you too.”

“Good.” Harry declares, and then reaches over Louis to tug Zayn closer. “Stay.”

Zayn hums happily in reply, and then blinks a couple of times. 

“Wait. Why am _I_ the naked one in this cuddle? Isn’t that usually _your_ job?” 

Harry rolls his eyes and stands up, shedding all his clothes in a matter of seconds before snuggling back up next to Louis. “There. Happy?”

 

Zayn rolls his eyes but Louis giggles, his hands slowly combing through Harry’s hair while tracing small circles into Zayn’s shoulders.

“Yeah,” he replies, even though the question wasn’t directed towards him, and smiles down at Harry.

Harry’s lips move on their own, spreading into a huge grin as his hands find Zayn’s over Louis’ stomach. “Good,” he says, and that’s that.

 

\------------

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so the fic's going to be updated every other day!! Thanks for all the positive feedback :)
> 
> You can find me on [Tumblr](http://slashter.tumblr.com) and [Twitter](http://twitter.com/slashter_fic)!


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